Eternal Glory
by claudepeppers2
Summary: It's the year 2019, and the Triwizard Tournament is about to begin again. Only this time, it's the children of Harry and the Weasleys who get to watch or participate in it.  There's a new set of tasks and champions!
1. Prologue

**Author's Note: This is my first story, so I need a lot of help with it. Please review (you can say my story is bad! It needs as much help as possible). Any constructive feedback is welcome. REVIEW!**

**Disclaimer: The world of Harry Potter does not belong to me, but to JK Rowling.  
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_Shell Cottage_

19-year-old Victoire Weasley sat in her room, writing a letter to her friend Teddy about how much she missed him. One room to the left, Victoire's younger sister Dominique lay on her bed, staring out the window, daydreaming about Hogwarts and her friends. Outside the cottage, Louis, the youngest child of Bill and Fleur, rode his Cleansweep Thirteen around and around the house.

"Dinner!" The voice of Fleur echoed throughout the cottage. Dominique sat up with a start and rushed downstairs, Victoire slowly following. The start-of-term letters were due to arrive today!

Sure enough, two owls perched on the counter. Dominique excitedly ran toward the nearest owl and quickly untied the letter from beneath it. The name on the front of the letter read _Louis_. Cursing, Dominique untied the letter of the other owl. This time, it was addressed to her. She opened it with shaking hands.

_Dear Dominique Weasley,_

_Welcome back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Enclosed is the list of books necessary for your fifth year of studies. The train boards at platform nine-and-three-quarters on September 1__st__ at 11:00. Enjoy the rest of your summer._

Dominique slowly looked at the letter underneath and found a list of seven books necessary for the following year. A lump of disappointment appeared in her throat. She had hoped to receive a prefect badge. Her father and sister both had been prefects, and Dominique had wished to follow in their footsteps, getting all twelve OWLs and eventually becoming Head Girl. Dominique retreated from the counter and sat down with the rest of the family at the dinner table. Louis, an entering fourth-year, was happily reading his letter, and Victiore was discussing Ministry work with her father and mother. Trying to hold back tears, Dominique looked down at her food and ate as fast as she could.

_The Potter House_

"Are they here yet?" Lily Potter asked again.

"You asked that fifty thousand times already!" James shouted at his little sister. "Do you see any owls here?"

"James, be nice to your sister," their mother Ginny replied. "She's just excited to get her letter, since it's her first year."

"I was never that excited," James muttered under his breath. Ginny heard and gave him a stare that would have caused even her husband Harry to cringe.

James was going to be a sixth-year that fall, Lily a first-year, and Albus, the middle child, a third year. Part of the reason why James was so angry with his sister was because he was nervous about his OWL results, which were to come with his letter. His parents weren't too strict about his grades, but he knew they'd be mad if he failed all his exams, which he had a hunch might happen.

Albus didn't say anything. He was a quiet child, who rarely talked unless he was with a good friend. Currently sitting with James, one of the chief jokers of Hogwarts, he wished to talk much less.

The family ate their meal in silence. Harry wasn't in much of a mood to talk either; he had just found out that an exciting yet dangerous event would be occurring at Hogwarts this year, and needed time to process that fact. At last, when the family's plates were almost empty, three owls appeared at the window.

"They're here!" Lily cried in excitement. She ran over to the window and pushed it open so the owls could fly in. They landed on the table, and Lily and Albus grabbed their letters first.

"Go on, James," Ginny encouraged. James apprehensively untied the parcel and smoothed out the letter. The first page was the welcome-back letter, the second the list of books, the third—James let out a gasp of happiness—the news of becoming Quidditch captain, and the last the results of his OWLs. James read them over, slowly.

It wasn't as bad as he expected. He didn't get any Outstandings, but he got six Exceeds Expectations (DADA, Charms, Transfiguration, Potions, Care of Magical Creatures, Herbology), one Acceptable (Astronomy), and only two fails (Ancient Runes and History of Magic).

"Congratulations!" Harry said, ruffling his son's hair. "Seven OWLs, the same number I got!"

James smiled, relieved. "Look what else I got!" He held up his Quidditch Captain badge.

"Good job!" Harry said again. "Exactly what I got in my sixth year too!"

"It seems like you're going to go down the same path as your father," Ginny commented. James blushed, but he was happy and proud too.

_Ron and Hermione's House_

Hugo and Rose Weasley sat playing wizard's chess on the floor of the family room. Nearby, their parents were talking to each other in low voices. "Rook to D4," commanded Rose, and her rook violently smashed Hugo's pawn.

"Aw…" Hugo said sadly. "I thought you were going easy on me!"

"I am, Hugo," Rose replied. "This is nothing considered to how I play with Albus." She looked up, waiting for Hugo to make his move, and saw her parents whispering in the corner. "What are you whispering about?"

"Mind your own business," Ron replied.

"Ron!" Hermione snapped. She turned to Rose and said, "It's something that has to do with Hogwarts, but it's a secret, and you can't find out until the start of school."

"Please, Mom, please tell!" Rose begged. "Please?"  
>"I'm sorry, Rosie, but I'm not allowed to tell." Trying to change the subject, Hermione spotted two owls at the window and walked over. "I think your start-of-term letters are here."<p>

"Yes!" Hugo jumped up from his spot on the floor and raced over to the window. Hermione handed him his letter. "_Dear Hugo,_" he read aloud, "_Congratulations on being accepted to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry! Hogwarts is…_ wait, this part is boring… OK, here…_ Enclosed are the lists of supplies necessary for your first year of school. We look forward to seeing you on September First!"_ Hugo looked up at his parents. "Can we go to Diagon Alley, then? To buy my school supplies?"

"Now?" Rose laughed. "Don't you want to wait until tomorrow, so we can go the same time as Lily or Albus?"

"Oh, I forgot," Hugo said. "Let's go tomorrow, then."

Hermione laughed and patted her son on the back. "Congratulations, Hugo. We're proud of you."

"You'll have so much fun at Hogwarts, Hugo," Rose remarked, opening her letter and handing the permission slip to go to Hogsmeade to her mother to sign. "I can't wait for September 1st."

_The Burrow_

Percy, George, their spouses, and their children were staying at the Burrow for a few days, much to the delight of their children. Unfortunately, for the parents, that meant that Fred—another chief joker—and Lucy were together. Whenever that happened, nobody wanted to be in the room with them.

Lucy, entering fourth year, was somewhat like her dad. She was extremely smart and had the best grades of the Weasley family. She had a sense of humor too, but it was different from Fred's. Fred just played mean jokes on other people, and Lucy hated that.

It was dinnertime at the Burrow. Lucy and Fred already weren't speaking to each other. Fred had placed a whoopee cushion specially made by his father—which meant that it had an especially loud sound—on Lucy's chair before the meal.

Roxanne and Molly, George and Percy's daughters respectively, were chatting together happily. They were best friends, in Hogwarts and out. "Aren't our start-of-term letters supposed to come soon?" Roxanne asked.

"They're supposed to come today," Audrey, Percy's wife, replied.

"So they should come any minute," Molly confirmed. "They've always arrived during dinner." She continued eating, but looked up at the window every minute in case of owls.

"There they are!" Fred shouted, making almost everyone look up.

"Fred, shut up," Lucy replied, not even bothering to look. "There's nothing there."

It was true. Roxanne and Molly had run over to the window in excitement, but, of course, there was nothing. Just as the two friends returned to their seats, Lucy declared, "They're here for real this time!" and ran to the window herself. Four owls waited at the window with one parcel each.

Lucy let the owls in and found her letter. Entering fourth year, she didn't receive anything special. Molly opened hers and gasped. "I'm a prefect!" she exclaimed.

"Congratulations," Roxanne said. She knew it would never have been her, but her other friend Dominique might have been chosen.

"I'm so proud of you," Percy said to her daughter.

Meanwhile, Fred was looking at his OWL results and shrugging. "Five OWLs," he said. "That's good, right?"

"It's okay," his father replied. "Better than me, anyway." He had received three.

"Tomorrow, we'll all go to Diagon Alley and purchase supplies," Angelina, George's wife said.

"Yes!" Lucy exclaimed. "I can't wait."


	2. Chapter 1

"Daddy?" Lily asked her father as the Potter family walked toward Platforms 9 and 10 in King's Cross Station, the three children pushing trunks and owls.

"Yes, Lily?"

"Do you think I'll get into Gryffindor?"

The whole Weasley/Potter family was all part of Gryffindor. The Sorting Hat had sorted everyone, from James I to Roxanne to Victoire, into the house of the braves. To not be part of Gryffindor was a disgrace.

"I'm sure you will, Lily," Harry replied gently to her daughter. "You're a very brave girl, and you completely deserve to be in Gryffindor. Where else do you think you'll end up?"

"Ravenclaw? Or Hufflepuff?"

"Those are two fantastic houses, Lily, and they'll be glad to have a smart girl like you there," Harry said. "But I promise you, the Sorting Hat sorts you into whatever house you want."

"I can ask it?"

"Yep," Harry replied. "But right now, let's enter Platform 9 and ¾. There're no muggles around."

"Okay. Race you!" Lily shouted to Albus, and he groaned, reluctantly running after his sister. Once the front of his cart touched the wall, it disappeared, and Albus vanished.

James followed, walking after them. Harry and Ginny went last. For a second, all they could see was darkness, but then they emerged into a new, busy, platform, full of wizards and witches waiting to board the Hogwarts Express. Harry spotted his two youngest children talking to two other redheads: Rose and Hugo Weasley.

"Harry!" His best friend Ron appeared in front of him. "I haven't seen you in ages! How's life?"

"Good," Harry replied. "How are you? And Hermione?" he asked, as Ron's wife Hermione appeared next to him.

"Very well, thanks," she answered. "Hugo isn't, though. He's all worried about going into Slytherin."

"The phase all eleven-year-olds fall into," Ron said to himself, shaking his head. "At least this is the last one I'll have to deal with."

Harry laughed, but Hermione looked disapprovingly at him. She walked over to Hugo, who was nervously listening to Albus. "Come on, Hugo, Albus, Lily, Rose—don't you want to see you aunts and uncles?"

"Okay, Aunt Hermione," Lily said, and was the first to follow Hermione to a large group of redheads. Once she got there, however, Lily stayed back with the three other children. Most of the other children there were in older years; Lily didn't know them as well.

The four continued chattering for some time, until Harry ushered them onto the Hogwarts Express. "It's nearly 11," he said. "Don't be late."

Albus nodded and headed onto the train; Rose and Hugo followed. Lily stayed behind, and gave her father one last hug. "Will you write to me?"

"Of course. Don't worry, you'll have fun. You have so many cousins and friends there, it'll just be like home."

"Except you're not there."

Harry smiled at her daughter and gave her a push toward the train. "Don't make Hugo wait for you forever!" he said. "Have fun!"

Lily nodded, and ran onto the train. Harry stepped back, and fell into line beside Ginny and Ron. The train puffed smoke twice, and began moving. All the students leaned outside and waved toward their family and friends. Harry could see Lily's small hand waving at her. He waved back, and watched the hands grow smaller and smaller.

"Ready to live life without children?" Ron asked Harry. He nodded, staring at train as it grew smaller and smaller.

* * *

><p>Lily and Hugo sat in a compartment by themselves. Rose and Albus had left to find their friends, and the rest of the Weasleys were in their own compartment, laughing away. The two first-years had their own compartment, but it was really quiet and awkward. They were two busy worrying to talk.<p>

The compartment door opened and a face looked in. "Can we sit here?" The speaker was a small girl with brown hair and brown eyes, who looked extremely nervous. Next to her was another girl, looking equally frightened, but with blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Of course," Lily responded. "Are you both first-years?"

They nodded. "I'm Elena Mills," said the girl with blonde hair. "She's Layla Longbottom."

"Longbottom?" Hugo asked, interested. "Could you be related to Neville Longbottom, the Herbology professor?"

"He's my dad," Layla replied. "What's your name?"

"Hugo Weasley," Hugo replied.

Layla gasped. "That surname is so famous! So you're related to the founders of the Weasley Wizard Wheezes?"

Hugo nodded. "But I'm not as famous as her." He pointed to Lily.

"Shut up, Hugo," she said jokingly. "He's just kidding," she said to Elena and Layla.

"No I'm not!" Hugo insisted. "Her father is the Chosen One, who killed You-Know-Who!"

Layla looked at Lily and smiled. "So you're Lily Potter, then?"

"Yep, that's me," she replied. "But enough about our families. That doesn't matter. What house do you want to go in?"

"Anything but Slytherin," Layla replied, and Hugo looked relieved. "If I could chose, either Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."

"Me and Hugo have to be in Gryffindor," Lily said. "Our whole family was. What about you, Elena?"

Elena looked thoughtful. "I don't know…" she said hesitantly. "I'm Muggle-born, see, so I don't know much about houses or anything."

"Oh, it's simple," Lily said. She began explaining all about the houses and Hogwarts, when the door of the compartment opened again. Two people stood at the entrance. One was Rose, and the other was a boy Lily didn't recognize.

"Hugo and Lily," Rose said. "Do you want to join our compartment?"

"No thanks, we're fine," Hugo replied. "Who's that?" he pointed to the other boy.

"The reason why I asked you to join us," Rose answered. "He said that it was very rude that Albus and I left you alone, and insisted on letting you join us. But, it looks like you've made your own friends, right?"

"I was just being nice," the boy said. "I'm Scorpius Malfoy. See you later, then." He waved and left.

"Was she your sister?" Elena asked.

"Yep," Hugo replied. "Two years older."

"She's my cousin, too," Lily said. "Hugo and I have 9 siblings and cousins attending Hogwarts right now. Rose, Albus, Louis, Dominique, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, James, and Fred," she counted.

"Whoa," Layla commented. "That's a lot. You must have a lot of knowledge about Hogwarts, then."

For the rest of the train ride, the four discussed their families, until the train stopped at Hogwarts. "Excited?" Lily asked the others.

"Very," they responded.

* * *

><p><strong>I'll try to update every day. I already wrote the next chapter (it's kind of long…) but I'll always be once chapter ahead of the current one posted. <strong>


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: Special thanks to KittyCat809 for reviewing my story. Thanks a lot! **

Dominique, Molly, Roxanne, and Lucy got on a carriage together. An invisible creature pulled them up toward the castle, while the black sky shone overhead with twinkling stars.

Finally, the carriages stopped by the Hogwarts' gates, and Lucy jumped off. She didn't hang around her sister and her friends much during school, since she was a year younger, so she was so excited to see her own friends again. She walked toward the entrance of the school, but, as soon as she entered, a water balloon struck her feet.

"Peeves!" she glared at him, but did a quick spell to dry herself off. Lucy was back in Hogwarts, and allowed to do magic again! She looked around the crowd of students in the entrance hall, trying to find her friends. Then, spotting someone, she made her way through the crowd toward him.

"Hello, Lucy," Lorcan Scamander said as a greeting. He looked the same as he did last year, with bright blonde hair and mesmerizing blue eyes. Lorcan was just like his mother, a bit eccentric and odd, but, unlike her, he was put into Gryffindor.

"Lucy!" Lorcan's twin Lysander appeared behind him. Although the two were twins, they had completely different personalities. Lysander was more like his father, studious but with a sense of humor. Lucy was good friends with both of the Scamanders, but she liked Lysander more. "Where's Louis?"

Lucy turned around to look for her cousin, who was also a fourth-year. "He was in the carriage behind me," she said, trying to find him in the crowd. "There he is!"

Louis was trying, unsuccessfully, to push his way through the crowd to get to them. When he finally managed to get there, Professor McGonagall, the headmistress, told everyone to enter the Great Hall, where Louis had just came from. "Wonderful," he said sarcastically, while Lucy just laughed.

The four of them walked into the Great Hall together, talking about their summers. They were all good friends, and, ironically, their names all began with Ls.

Eventually, everyone was seated at their correct house, and the noise quieted down. The door to the Great Hall opened again, and the first years walked in, lead by Professor Anderson, the Transfiguration professor. McGonagall had brought a stool and an old hat to the front of the hall already, and Professor Anderson began calling out names.

"Allen, Zachary." A boy stumbled from the back of the crowd and walked nervously toward the Sorting Hat. He looked extremely small and frightened. He put on the hat, and a few seconds later, it shouted "RAVENCLAW!"

Zachary Allen put the hat down and went toward Ravenclaw house, where they were all clapping eagerly. The roll call continued, Lucy half paying attention.

"Longbottom, Layla." That made Lucy grow alert. Professor Longbottom was a good professor, but she didn't know he had children. Lucy looked up at the staff table and saw Professor Longbottom, the Herbology teacher, watching nervously as the hat sat on the girl's head for a long time. Finally, the hat screamed "GRYFFINDOR!"

Lucy clapped loudly with the rest of the Gryffindors as Layla walked toward their table. She found a seat near the end of the bench, next to the three other first years in Gryffindor and a bunch of third years.

The sorting continued, with Elena Mills and Connor Parker sorted into Gryffindor as well. Then Lily Potter was called. She put on the hat, and, in one second, it shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Lucy clapped politely again as Lily went to sit next to Layla. Lucy liked Lily; she was a talkative and curious girl.

There were only a few first years left. Tobias Roberts became a Hufflepuff, Scarlett Taylor a Ravenclaw, Darcey Thompson a Slytherin. Then it was Lucy's cousin, Hugo Weasley. Lucy crossed her fingers so Hugo could join her house, and sure enough, the hat shouted "GRYFFINDOR!" Hugo collapsed, relieved, next to Lily.

As the last two first years were put into Slytherin and Hufflepuff respectively, Professor McGonogall stood up and directed the students. "Welcome back to a new year! I know that you are all hungry, so, without further ado, let the feast begin!"

Food appeared everywhere. "Finally!" Lysander exclaimed, and began piling food onto his plate. Once it was full, he dug in.

"The way you eat, it seems like your parents starve you," Lucy remarked. "Slow down! The food won't disappear."

Lysander didn't answer until his plate emptied. He swallowed once, and simply said, "I was hungry."

Next to him, Lorcan was eating neatly and slowly. "Why don't you act more like a civilized person, like your twin?"

Lysander shrugged. "I dunno. I like being uncivilized. So, any ideas about what the special event is that'll happen at Hogwarts this year?"

"What?" Lucy asked. "There's a special event?"

"Nobody told you?" Louis asked. "Dad told me yesterday. Well, he didn't tell me what the event was, but he said something special would be happening this year. I thought that Percy would tell you, being all high up in the Ministry."

"You know Dad," Lucy replied. "Every time he begins talking about his job, I tune out. He can be really boring sometimes."

"So, what do you reckon the event is?" Lysander asked again. "Nothing special ever happens at Hogwarts."

"It's probably the gathering of animals," Lorcan said randomly.

"The what?"

"The gathering of animals," Lorcan repeated. "It happens once every ten years. All the rare animals meet together in one specific place, that's different each time. It's a marvelous sight to see."

Lucy, Lysander, and Louis exchanged glances. Lorcan's ideas were sometimes so strange. "Maybe," Lucy said doubtfully. "Whatever it is, we'll find out soon."

Down the Gryffindor table, James and his friends were discussing the special event too. "I reckon it's the Triwizard Tournament," Fred Weasley said. "That's the only special thing that ever happened to Hogwarts.

"I hope not," Oliver Brown commented. "I'm not seventeen yet, so I wouldn't be able to participate."

"Fair point," Fred said. "Well, whatever it is, I just hope it doesn't involve extra exams and homework." He looked up. Professor McGonagall was getting to her feet. Instantly, the hall quieted down.

"I would like to welcome you all back for a new year at Hogwarts," McGonagall said. "This year, our astronomy teacher, Professor Sinistra, has retired after teaching for a long forty years. Our new astronomy teacher is Professor Hunter."

Professor Hunter stood up. He looked young, in his twenties or thirties, with short brown hair and piercing eyes. James and Fred clapped loudly but slowly, making sure to be the last ones clapping – they both had decided to not take astronomy in their sixth year, so the new teacher was of little importance to them.

"Our caretaker would like me to remind you that magic is not to be done in the hallways between classrooms, and that the Forbidden Forest is off-limits, and that students are not supposed to be wandering the halls at night. If you wish to see a full list of rules, you can find them by the caretaker's office.

"On a more lighter note, this year, there will be a special event involving the Hogwarts students." McGonagall paused. "Many of you may have heard of it before, but this year it will occur again."  
>There was a murmur in the hall, as many students were whispering to their friends with their guesses. McGonagall cleared her throat and said, "The Quidditch matches are not to be held this year. In replace, the Triwizard tournament will occur."<p>

"I knew it!" Fred shouted loudly. The hall had grown loud, and everyone was talking.

"What was the point of getting my Captain badge if we don't have Quidditch?" James asked sadly.

McGonagall coughed again. "This year, however, changes have been made. In the previous one, a champion had died at the end of the tournament." The hall grew quiet, remembering what had happened. "We have made sure that the tasks this year are not life-threatening. They are still dangerous, and we ask all the students who wish to participate to think it through before submitting their name into the Goblet. In the previous tournament, the age requirement was 17 years of age."

"Damn it," Fred said under his breath. "We can't participate."

"Wait," James replied. "McGonagall said that the age requirement would change."

McGonagall gave the two boys a glare and continued. "Previously, a 14-year-old student was accidently selected to participate in the Triwizard tournament. However, he actually preformed quite well, and won the tournament at the end. Because of this, we believe that students younger than seventeen do have a chance of winning. So, this year, we have lowered the age requirement to fifteen years of age."

"Yes!" Fred shouted. "Yes!" He turned to James. "Are you going to submit your name to this goblet?"

"Definitely," James replied. "If my dad won during his fourth year, I should be able to win now in my sixth year."

McGonagall wasn't done talking yet. "Those of you who are not fifteen by October thirty-first cannot enter their name into the Goblet. Remember, even if one hundred students submit their names, only one student will get chosen. You must submit your name by October 31st.

"Since last time Hogwarts hosted the Triwizard Tournament, another school will host it this time. Beauxbatons Academy. On October 30th, all the students fourth year and above will go to Beauxbatons for a welcome feast and the chosing of champions.

"Well, good night everyone, and remember to think this through. Winning the Triwizard Tournament will give the champion one thousand galleons and eternal glory. However, it is quite dangerous, and the champions may suffer injuries in the tournament. Have a good evening." With that, McGonagall returned to her seat.

"Is Professor McGonagall kidding?" James asked as he walked toward the common room with his friends. "If we win, we'll get 1000 galleons and eternal glory. Who wouldn't want that?"

"She did say it would be somewhat dangerous, though," Oliver said.

"Yeah, but she did say that 15-year-olds would be able to do well," Fred insisted. "We're older than that, so we should be able to do even better."

"I guess so," Oliver replied. The three of them reached the portrait of the fat lady. "Do you know the password?"

"Nope," James said. "Can you let us in?" he asked the Fat Lady. "You know we're in Gryffindor; we've been here for five years!"

"No password, no entry," she said stubbornly.

"Fine then." James turned around and looked for any Gryffindors nearby. Then he saw his brother Albus, with Rose and Scorpius. "Hey, do you know the password?"

Rose looked mutinous as she told James, "It's 'Champion'."

"Why are you so upset?" James asked. "Did I do something?"

"Not you," Rose said. "Professor McGonagall. She just said that only people fifteen and above can participate in the Triwizard tournament. That is so unfair. I probably know more spells than you do, and I'm only thirteen."

"She probably does." Fred agreed. James gave him a shove. Fred slapped him in return.

"Look at them!" Rose exclaimed. "You're acting like first-years."

"Rose, calm down," Oliver said. "McGonagall has a good reason for enforcing the age requirement. People have died in previous tournaments. She just doesn't want students who are too young getting seriously injured."

"I guess so," Rose admitted.

"Besides," James added. "You shouldn't be that mad. You're one year and seven months off of the age requirement. Be glad you're not a fourth-year." He smiled as he remembered something. "Oh, be glad you're not Louis. His birthday is November 2nd. He missed the age requirement by two days!"

"At least he gets to go to Beauxbatons Academy. He's in fourth year already. We have to stay at Hogwarts and miss out on all the excitement."

James shrugged, looking at a loss for what to say, and departed for the boys dormitory with Fred and Oliver.

"They don't understand," Scorpius said to Rose. Although he was a Malfoy, he was sorted into Gryffindor at his first year. Scorpius and Albus were best friends.

"Yeah, they don't," Rose sighed. "Well, life isn't fair. See you guys in the morning." She headed toward her dormitory.

The other third-year girls were already asleep. Rose sighed, unpacked her trunk, and went to sleep too.


	4. Chapter 3

**Thank you SaraHunterofArtemis and L-u-n-a-654 for reviewing. Reviews make me smile! I know this chapter is kind of short, so I'll update tomorrow right away with a longer chapter. For those of you who are wondering who the champion is, I promise I'll write who it is by Chapter 5 (Oh, and I made a poll about it – check it out on my profile page!). The next chapter will be midway through October, so the story doesn't go too slow.**

* * *

><p>The next morning, Lily awoke in her bed, feeling extremely happy. She was finally at Hogwarts! Lily didn't mind that she wouldn't be able to participate in the Triwizard Tournament; she didn't know any spells, and would fail at the tasks. The fact that something exciting was occurring this year was good news to her.<p>

Lily, Elena, Layla, and the other first year girl named Olivia Gould went down to the Great Hall for breakfast together. They were midway through their meal when, all of a sudden, lots of owls swooped down into the hall.

A big fluffy white owl dropped onto the table in front of Lily. "Hello, Hedwig," Lily said. After the death of Hedwig I, Harry had bought another owl and named it Hedwig II in remembrance of Hedwig I. There was a parcel attached to her foot. Lily opened it, excitedly.

_Dear Lily,_

_ Congratulations on getting into Gryffindor! We are so proud of you at home. Did you hear about the Triwizard Tournament occurring this year? You must be excited. Just don't do anything stupid, like trying to enter your name in the Goblet of Fire. Keep an eye on Rose, especially. She must be upset that she's too young to be in the Tournament. Have fun! _

_ Your loving parents_

"That's nice of them," Layla said. Then, another owl flew in front of Lily, a big, brown one this time. Lily opened it again.

_ Hello Lily!_

_ This is Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper. I know this is your first week back, but how would you like to come to my hut this Friday and have a cup of tea together? It's a tradition for every Potter or Weasley. Send a reply with this owl. If you wish to bring your friends, just mention them in the reply._

_ Have a fun first week, Hagrid_

Lily smiled. "Do you three want to go to Hagrid's hut on Friday and have a cup of tea with him? He invited us there."

"Sure," Layla said. Elena nodded, and Olivia shrugged. Lily turned the letter over and scribbled a reply.

All the first year Gryffindors had their lessons together the first day. The four girls went to their first class, Transfiguration, together. Their teacher, Professor Anderson, was really nice and friendly, but the class itself was hard. The students were told to transform a match into a needle. Lily was the only one who achieved anything. She got the match to be a little pointy. Professor Anderson awarded Gryffindor 10 points for that.

Next was Herbology, in the greenhouses with Professor Longbottom. Layla found this class to be quite awkward. Whenever the professor asked a question, Layla would be sure to keep her hand firmly next to her. The first-years didn't do any hands-on activities that lesson; it was just some basic facts.

There was a half-hour break in which the Gryffindors did their Transfiguration homework. Then was a History of Magic. Lily tried to pay attention and take notes, but Professor Binns' voice was so dry that it was impossible to listen. She tuned out after five minutes.

There was lunch, and then Potions. It wasn't as bad as Lily had expected. But it still wasn't fun.

The last class of the day was Charms. Lily loved Charms; it was her favorite class so far. Their assignment was to make objects fly, and Lily was the first one to get it. It was so much fun.

The first-year Gryffindors headed to dinner, talking happily among themselves. When they finally reached the Great Hall—they were still unfamiliar to the castle—most of the other students were present already. Lily found a seat on the edge of the Gryffindor table and began eating her dinner.

"Did you hear?" Rose Weasley appeared next to Lily, looking extremely happy.

"What?"

"They're letting the first through third years play Quidditch!" Rose exclaimed. "Since the rest of the school is going to Beauxbatons, they'll let us have our own Quidditch teams!"

"Really? That's awesome!" Lily said. Being the children of two great Quidditch players, Lily was an expert at Quidditch herself. Like her mom, she preferred being chaser. "How did you find out?"

"Hagrid told me in Care of Magical Creatures," Rose answered. "I have to go, Scorpius is waiting for me to help do his homework." She went down toward the other side of the table.

"What's Quidditch?" Elena asked.

"It's a wizard sport," Lily replied. "You know basketball, right? Well, it's like that, except it's played on broomsticks. It's hard to explain, but once you watch a game you'll understand."

Just then, McGonagall stood up. The whole room quieted at once; it was rare for the headmistress to stand up during mealtimes, except when it was a special event.

"Forgive me for not saying this during yesterday's welcome feast," Professor McGonagall said. "But I have received many complaints from the students who are younger than fifteen that they are capable of joining in the Tournament, and wish to do so. Because of this, I know that a lot of wrongdoing, such as telling an older student to submit a younger student's name, will occur. I hope to prevent this from occurring by starting a new event at Hogwarts, for the younger students. Everyone who stays at Hogwarts while the older students go to Beauxbatons will be able to participate in a new Inter-House Quidditch Tournament, for years one through three. Even first-years will be able to participate."

At this news, many second and third years were shouting in surprise and happiness. "And as for the older students," McGonagall continued, "If any wish to stay at Hogwarts and not participate in the Triwizard Tournament, they will be allowed to participate in the Quidditch matches instead. That will be all."

"Professor McGonagall is really smart," Layla remarked to herself. "Making that rule up… that was a really good idea."

"That's why she headmistress, Layla," Elena said. "She must be smart to get that position."

"I know, but it was a good idea even for her," Layla said. "I just wish I was good at Quidditch."

"You can't be that bad," Lily insisted. "Have you ever tried?"

Layla nodded. "My father is Professor Longbottom, the most clumsy person in the world. Trust me, I can't stay on a broom for more than five seconds."

"Don't worry Layla, I can't play Quidditch either," Olivia said. "I'm kind of scared of heights."

"I don't even know the rules to Quidditch!" Elena exclaimed.

They all laughed. "What about you, Lily?" Layla asked.

"Me? I'm okay, I guess."

"You're being modest," Layla said. "The child of two great Quidditch players – you must be amazing."

"If you say so." Lily was really good, but she didn't want to brag. The first years finished their supper, and returned to their common room, doing homework and enjoying the magical place.

* * *

><p><strong> So, this chapter is really short, but I'll update tomorrow! Don't forget to vote for whoever you think should be champion on the poll on my profile page! (I already have somebody in mind, but this is just to see what everyone thinks.)<strong>


	5. Chapter 4

Time flew by so quickly. Before Dominique knew it, it was midway through October. Perhaps that was because of all the homework the teachers were giving. She rarely had any free time. But this was OWL year, what could she expect?

Dominique, Molly, Roxanne, and Charlotte—Dominique's best friend—were doing their homework in the Gryffindor common room. The clock read 1 AM. Dominique wrote the last few sentences of her Astronomy essay, measured the length to make sure it exceeded a foot, and yawned. "Done," she said.

"I just started my Potions essay," Roxanne complained. "I still have two feet to write before I go to bed."

"That stinks," Charlotte said. "I'm almost done. I just need to a few more sentences… Then I'll go up to the dormitory with you. Can you wait for me?" she asked Dominique.

"Sure, no problem," Dominique said. She rolled up her finished essays and cleaned up her quill and ink. "So, Charlotte, do you plan to go to Beauxbatons Academy or stay at Hogwarts?"

"I obviously want to go to Beauxbatons," Charlotte said as she worked on her essay. "I dunno about entering my name into the Goblet of Fire, though."

"Same," Dominique replied. "It would be wonderful winning the tournament, or even getting chosen, but the tasks seem so scary. My mother was in the last one, and she said that the night before the tasks, she was so nervous. She had to fight dragons. If I have to do that, I am going to die."

"Yeah," Molly agreed. "I'm not putting my name in the Goblet, ever. I'm just not that kind of person."

"Roxanne?" Dominique asked. "Are you going to?"

Roxanne put down her quill and stared at Dominique in the face. "Definitely. What's the fun of life without taking a risk?"

Dominique nodded. "I guess so. I still don't know what I'll do… I have to wait until we actually get there. Then I'll decide."

* * *

><p>The next week, Quidditch tryouts were being hosted for Gryffindor House. The Captain of the Quidditch Team, James, would watch the first through third years play Quidditch and chose three chasers, two beaters, and a seeker. He would also choose the best player to be Captain, while James was off at Beauxbatons.<p>

Surprisingly, there weren't any older students; it appeared that none of them wanted to be left behind at Hogwarts with the younger ones, even if they did get to play Quidditch. As James walked toward the Quidditch field with Fred and Oliver following, he saw a lot of eager first, second, and third years.

"Is everyone here?" James walked to the center of the field and raised his voice. All the students who wanted to try out were standing in the field, while the observers were in the stands. James spotted Lily, Rose, Albus, and Hugo there.

They all nodded.

"Okay. All the students who want to be chasers please come forward. Everyone else, step back and wait your turn."

About half of them stepped forward, Lily, Albus, and Hugo included. James gave the three an encouraging smile; he knew they wouldn't all make the team, but it was good to make them feel good.

Since there were only ten students, James told them to divide into pairs and fly around the pitch, just to make sure they knew how to fly. Sure enough, two of the students clearly didn't know how to fly at all. James kindly told them to leave, and they agreed.

Two down, eight left. Now James began the more efficient way of picking chasers. He got the two beaters and the keeper from last year's team and told them to fly up and get ready. Then he sent all the ten remaining chasers up into the air and flew up after them. James then released six Quaffles and two Bludgers into the air. He told the chasers that on his whistle, they were to try to score as many goals as possible.

James put the whistle into his mouth and blew. Now, all he had to do was keep track of whoever scored the most points.

Ten minutes later, James blew the whistle again and told them to stop. "Alright, everyone, that was good. You can fly down now."

They did. Now, James prepared himself for some students to be angry at him. "I've decided which three students should be Chasers based on the amount of points they scored. It's not solely on that, though. It's also on cooperation, and fair playing.

"Ray Beechcroft." A tall and muscular third year stepped forward, looking apprehensive. "You have shown excellent skill at dodging bludgers, and scored the most Quaffles of everyone: 23 points. For those reasons, you are part of the team."

Beechcroft looked extremely happy and thanked James, then stepped back among the rest of the waiting students.

"William Sterling." An average looking second year stepped forward, looking happy. "Although you did not score the most points, you have shown extreme cooperation with the other players, and good skill at riding your broomstick. You scored 17 points, which is still a lot. Congratulations on getting on the team."

"Thank you." Sterling stepped back too.

"Only one spot remaining," James said. "But six people hoping they were chosen. Who thinks they have a chance? Don't answer, that was a rhetorical question." He stared at the chasers, thinking. Even though Hugo was his cousin, he didn't think he deserved a spot. He didn't score many points. The two second years remaining didn't do very well either. That left Albus, Lily, and one third year boy. Albus? No. He did okay with the points, but he was too shy and didn't get open for passes easily. So Lily or the other boy? They had the same amount of points, but…

"Lily Potter," James said, deciding. Lily stepped forward, smiling at James. "This was a hard decision to make. You did quite well scoring points: 19 points. In addition, you managed to dodge a lot of bludgers, and you cooperated well with the other students. For those reasons, you are now a chaser."

"Yay!" Lily cried. "Thank you, James!" She ran away from the pitch toward her friends, probably telling them how she made the team.

"Come back later!" James shouted at her. "I need you to help me chose the Keepers!"

To the five remaining students, James said, "I'm sorry. You did well, but we had a lot of talent today. Maybe some other time. If you really want, you can try out for Beater, Seeker or Keeper." They nodded, accepting that fact, and they returned to the stands.

Now it was time for the beaters. James incorporated the same general method as the Chaser tryouts for the Beaters. There were only five people trying out, so it was quick and easy. Happy with his choices, Jonathan Newton and Owen Peele, James got ready for the Seeker.

This was a hard choice. There were six people trying out, but only one available spot. James got a few golf balls and threw them into the air, remembering who caught the most. Then he got them to race across the field, seeing who was the fastest. Last, James let the Golden Snitch out twice, seeing who caught them. In the end, James had narrowed it down to two people: Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy. They had both caught the snitch once, and caught about the same number of golf balls. In the end, he chose Malfoy. He was quite fast and got the Snitch on the first throw right away.

"I'm sorry, Rose," James said to his cousin. "It was a choice between you and Malfoy, and he did a bit better. Sorry." Rose shrugged, James could tell she was unhappy.

Last was the Keeper. James got his Chasers and Beaters to return so they could through Quaffles at the Keeper to save. That was easy to decide. Only Karen Hailey saved all five. She was part of the team.

"Everyone, gather around for a team meeting," James said. "You all preformed well today and deserve to be on the team. However, the last decision is to chose who is Captain. I can't make this decision; I won't be here to enforce my decision. You, as a team, have to decide. I want you to talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes and decide who is captain."

The seven members of the Gryffindor Quidditch team huddled in a circle and talked. James sat down and relaxed, waiting for them to finish.

"James, we decided," Lily called.

"Who did you pick, and how?" he asked.

"Everyone voted for one person to be Captain," Sterling said. "They couldn't vote for themselves though."

"So who did they pick?" James asked again. He had a feeling he knew what the answer was.

"Me," Sterling said. "I don't know why, though."

James shrugged. "As long as you have the support of your team, you'll be fine. The rest of you can go, I just need to talk to Sterling for a few minutes to give him tips on being captain."

After talking to Sterling, James understood why he was chosen. When he talked, he had a sense of control, but it wasn't overpowering. He made other people feel good listening to him. James knew he would make a good captain.

"Well, that went well, didn't it?" James asked Fred as they returned to the castle.

"You did well," Fred said. "You had control over all of them, and they actually listened to you."

"You sound surprised."

"Not really."

"Yes, you do."

"No."

They argued all the way back to the Gryffindor common room. James collapsed onto a couch, tired of all that flying, and took a nap.

* * *

><p><strong>Thanks for voting in the poll and all your reviews! I'll keep the poll open until the champions are revealed. So, I promise that the next chapter will be at Beauxbatons! And then the champions will be revealed!<strong>


	6. Chapter 5

**Thanks for all your reviews! It doesn't matter if you write negative things about my story—my story isn't perfect and it needs a lot of help. Constructive criticism actually helps more. I guess the last chapter was sort of boring… it was more like a filler than an actual exciting chapter. This chapter is also a bit boring (sorry!) but it contains important information/foreshadowing…**

* * *

><p>Rose, Albus, and Scorpius stood outside the front door of Hogwarts and watched the train containing all the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh years disappear into the distance. Rose sighed, and headed back into Hogwarts castle.<p>

"They must be having a lot of fun at Beauxbatons," Rose said. "I wish I could go…"

Scorpius nodded in empathy. "At least we'll get to go watch the first task, when it happens."

"Yeah, we'll get to spend one day there," Rose said. "If only there was a way to stay there longer. I'd do anything—_anything_—to stay there."

* * *

><p>Lucy stared out the window of the train as Hogwarts grew farther and farther away. "That's it," she said to herself. "We're finally going to Beauxbatons."<p>

Surprisingly, the train stopped about half an hour later. Lucy looked outside and spotted a beautiful castle in the distance. Whereas Hogwarts was beautiful in a dark and serene sense, Beauxbatons was bright and shining. The castle shone silver, surrounded by, not grass, but sand.

"Wow," was all Lucy could say to describe it.

The students emptied off the train and followed Professor McGonagall up a steep path toward the castle. Before entering, McGonagall turned and faced the students with a serious expression.

"No student will make a fool of themselves or Hogwarts in this castle. If I hear about any wrongdoing or rule breaking, that student will be punished severely. I do not want Hogwarts' reputation to be destroyed. Understand?" Everyone nodded. "You may now enter."

The doors swung open and Professor McGonagall walked into the hall. Lucy couldn't stop staring. The hall was twice the size of the Hogwarts' great hall, yet it was still full. The ceiling must have been bewitched to show a bright blue sky, and shiny candles were floating there. Like Hogwarts, there were long tables stretching from one side of the room to the other, but unlike Hogwarts, there were much more than four.

The students themselves were dressed in blue silk robes, and were staring at all the Hogwarts ones. Many of the boys from Hogwarts were staring back at the girls, and whispering amongst themselves. Even Lysander was staring. Lucy gave him a shove, and he came back to reality.

The other students, who must be from Durmstrang, were wearing thick coats that looked like they were made of animal fur. The boys all had short hair, while the girls had theirs tied up.

"Welcome!" A voice came from the front of the room. A very, very big woman was sitting there. "My name is Madame Maxime, and I welcome you to Beauxbatons Academy. Please find a seat at a table. I am very sorry zat there are such little seats, but we are very crowded with two additional schools in here."

"Oh, it's no trouble," Professor McGonagall replied. "No trouble at all."

"Speak for yourself," Lucy said under her breath, who was squashed in between Lysander and a random Beauxbaton girl. "You get to sit at the staff table."

"Now zat we are all here," Madame Maxime said. "The feast will begin. Please enjoy ze food. We tried to incorporate all ze different tastes."

The food appeared. The Beauxbatons students around them began taking helpings of foods that Lucy had never heard of before. It looked like they were eating snails, some fish stew, and other weird dishes. On the other hand, the Durmstrang students were eating foods that looked like raw meat.

"Is there anything good to eat?" Lucy asked Lysander. "Any normal food?"

Lysander looked around the table and shrugged. "Not much."

Louis, on the other side of Lysander, had piled his plate with ethnic foods. "Why don't you try the food?" he asked. "It's decent enough."

Lucy shrugged. "I'll try some French food then. But definitely not the raw meat." She picked up a fork and carefully stabbed one snail. Slowly, she put it into her mouth and chewed. "It's actually really good. Tastes a bit like a clam or oyster. Lysander, you try it."

Lysander reluctantly got his own snail and nibbled it. "Not too bad, I guess. But I'd still prefer normal food."

They continued eating for a while. Finally, when everyone was full, the food disappeared and the plates emptied. Then Madame Maxine stood up.

"I hope you have all enjoyed ze wide varieties of food," Madame Maxime said. "Now zat you are all fed, I would like to introduce the special persons from ze French Ministry of Magic, who will be helping the tournament this year. Please welcome Gustav Moreau, Head of ze Department of International Magical Relations, and Damien Fournier, Head of ze Department of Magical Sports and Games."

Two men stood up, and the students clapped for them.

"For those of you who do not understand the Triwizard Tournament, I will explain," Madame Maxime said. "From today until tomorrow night, anyone who is aged fifteen or above will be given the option of trying to become a champion. To do that, he must enter a piece of paper with their name and school into the Goblet of Fire, which will be placed on a pedestal in the entrance hall right after this meal. I warn you, those who are not yet fifteen, do not try. I will have a member of staff observing at all times, and an age line in case some student tries to use an Invisibility cloak.

"Tomorrow, Halloween, we will gather here again for the selecting of champions. Guests, we have set up many tents in the front grounds that you can stay in over the night, or you may return to your vehicle of transportation. You are welcome to explore the halls now if you wish. Have good night."

"Do you want to explore?" Lucy asked her friends as the Beauxbatons students rose and were leaving the hall.

"I'll show you around, if you want," the Beauxbaton girl sitting next to Lucy said. She had long blonde hair that reminded Lucy of her cousin Dominique.

"Thank you," Lucy replied. She turned to the twins and Louis and asked them if they minded. They shrugged. "Okay, then," she said to the girl. "Lead the way."

"I'm Francine Beauvais," the girl said as she led Lucy and her friends out of the hall.

"Lucy Weasley," Lucy said, and then introduced her friends. "How old are you? We're all fourteen. "

"Too young to join the Triwizard Tournament?" Francine asked. "Me too. I'm turning fifteen in December. But, that's too late."

"I'm turning fifteen in three days," Louis said.

"That is too bad," Francine agreed. "Do you like our castle? Is yours like this?"

"Sort of," Lucy answered. For some reason, Lysander and Lorcan weren't talking at all. Lucy suspected it was either because of awe at the castle, or at Francine. Lucy guessed the latter. "It's like this, but it's different. Hogwarts is more serene. There are so many portraits everywhere, and the staircases move."

"Interesting," Francine said. "I'll show you our common room, if you like."

"Do you have houses?" Lucy asked.

"Houses?" Francine questioned.

"They're sort of like your family, I suppose. Hogwarts was founded by four witches and wizards, and each house is named after one of them. It's where your common room and dormitory is, and you're friends with everyone in your house."

"Oh, that! Yes, we do have houses. But we only have three, not four, since we had three founders," Francine explained.

They went on to explore the castle a bit more.

"Francine," Lucy said. "If you don't mind, can you show us the way back to the entrance hall? It's getting late, and I'm a bit tired."

"Of course," Francine said. "We can see the Goblet of Fire too."

Lucy, Lysander, Lorcan, and Louis followed Francine toward the entrance hall. Lucy lingered behind to talk to Lysander while Louis eagerly went ahead to talk with Francine. "What's with you?" Lucy asked. "I've never seen you this quiet."

Lysander nervously looked up at Francine and looked back at the floor. "She makes me nervous," he said.

"Oh, grow up!" Lucy said exasperatedly. She left him and went back up toward Francine. "Is that the entrance hall?"

Up ahead, but one story below, was a huge crowd of students, but a small gap in the center. Now and then one student would go toward the middle.

"Yep," Francine said. "Let's go see who's putting their name in!" She hurried down the stairs.

Once she reached the first floor, Lucy pushed her way through the crowd to get a good view of the Goblet of Fire. She saw her sister, Molly, next to her.

"Hi Molly," Lucy said. "Are you entering?"

"No," Molly replied. "It's too dangerous."

"I wish we could trade places," Lucy said. "I wish I was a year older. I would definitely put my name in."

Molly didn't respond. She watched her friends Charlotte, Dominique, and Roxanne walk up to the Goblet of Fire and put in slips of paper at the same time.

"Well, they did it," Molly said. "See you later, Lucy, I'm off to bed."

"Bye." Lucy looked around for anyone else she recognized and saw her cousin Fred. "Hey, Fred!" she shouted. "Are you entering?"

"Already did," Fred replied. "But James is doing it now."

Sure enough, James walked up to the Goblet, slowly took out a slip of paper, and dramatically put it in the Goblet. The crowd applauded as he did so.

"Well done, mate," Fred said to James. He, James, and their friend Oliver left the crowd and went back to their tent. Lucy looked around for Louis or the twins. She saw Louis nearby, watching the Goblet with wide eyes.

"Louis, are you going back to the tent?" Lucy asked.

He nodded. "I'm a little tired."

"Let's go, then."

Lucy and Louis went outside. There were about fifty tents sitting on the sand, in rows of ten, five in each row. Lucy saw Professor McGonagall standing there.

"Excuse me, Professor McGonagall?" Lucy asked. "Do we just go into a random tent?"

"No, no, of course not," McGonagall replied. "There are lists of tent assignments on the front of the Great Hall door."

Lucy thanked her and found her tent. She was sharing it with three fourth year girls—the only other girls in her year. Lucy found her bed and sank onto it, tired, and fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>I promise that the next chapter will be interesting and reveal the champions. Promise! I'll update tomorrow and you can find out who the champions are. Also, I'm getting writer's block about what the first task will be. Any suggestions for the first task? Please? Thank you!<br>**


	7. Chapter 6

**The moment of truth… The champions are revealed! But you probably won't be surprised… My poll said that 80% of the people voted for this contestant. **

**Thanks for advice on the tasks. I think the third task will be sort of like an obstacle course. The first one will be more direct. It's going to test the champions' courage and magical ability.**

* * *

><p>The clock on the front of the dining hall struck seven. The food appeared, and the Halloween Feast began.<p>

James, Fred, and Oliver were sitting in seats near the front of the room, so that they had a perfect view of the Goblet of Fire. In addition, they got to sit near some pretty Beauxbaton girls. Fred had been attempting to have a conversation with them, but after every sentence he said the girls would start giggling hysterically. After several failed attempts, Fred gave up and focused on eating, while James and Oliver laughed at him.

"What did I do wrong?" he asked James. According to Fred, James was an expert at girls, since he had so many of them for cousins.

"A lot of things," James replied. "For example, you started talking to them by introducing yourself. You don't do that with girls. You need to ask about them first, but in a subtle way. You need to begin talking to them as if they can help you, or something like that. Do you want me to demonstrate?"

Without waiting for an answer, James turned to the girl sitting next to him, and asked, "Excuse me, but I was wondering if you knew when the champions are going to be revealed."

Thankfully, the girl didn't laugh, but she looked at James in a reproachful manner. "Did you not hear Madame Maxime yesterday? She said zat ze contestants will be revealed after supper, at 8."

"Oh, sorry," James said. "I must not have been paying attention. So, did you put your name in the goblet?"

The girl nodded. "Of course."

"So, er…" James thought back to his elementary school days, when he was taught a little French. He tried to remember how to ask someone's name. "Comment vous appelez-vous?"

The girl laughed. "Zat was very good. Je m'appelle Sylvie Roux."

"Je m'appelle James Potter."

"Well, nice to meet you James Potter." The girl turned around and returned to talking with her friends.

"See, Fred?" James said. "You're an amateur at this. It's not hard."  
>"That's only because you grew up with fifty other girls!"<p>

"You did too," Oliver objected. "You have a younger sister, and the same cousins as James." To James, he said, "That was good French."

"Thank you, thank you," James pretended to bow. "Now, when will they announce the champions? I'm dying of suspense!"

"Why don't you eat something?" Oliver asked. "You barely touched anything."

"I'm not eating any of this," James motioned to the food in front of him. "It looks repulsive."

"Excusez-moi?" Sylvie turned around and saw James pointing at the food. "It's very delicious. Why don't you try it?"

James hesitated. "Which one is your favorite? And what is it?"

Sylvie pointed to a dish in front of Fred. "That one over there. It's called _Foie gras._"

"And what exactly is foie gras?"

"Liver. I think this one is from a duck."

"Gross!" Fred pushed the liver far away from him.

"It's actually quite delicious," Sylvie said. "It's fat and rich, sort of like butter. And it's very expensive. You should try it."

"No, I'm good," James replied. "Is there anything else that you think I'd like?"

Sylvie nodded. "You asked me for my favorite, so I told you what it was. But what you would like… You're from England, right? Then…" Sylvie scanned the table. "There's nothing here that's like British food. British food is so plain and simple. French cuisine is fancy."

"Fancy food is fine," James said. "I didn't say I didn't like it."

"How about the escargot?" Sylvie asked. "Snails."

"Why is all French food from weird animals?" James asked himself. "Alright," he said to Sylvie. "I'll try it."

"Later, when the desserts appear," Sylvie added. "Make sure to try the chocolate gateau. It's so good."

"Okay, thanks." James tried the escargot. "It's okay."

* * *

><p>Dominique and her friends were talking with some Beauxbaton girls their age when the clock struck eight, and all the food disappeared. "Finally!" Dominique said to herself. "Now we get to find out who was chosen."<p>

"As you can see," Madame Maxime said. "The Goblet of Fire is about to make it's decision." The Goblet had turned red and was emitting sparks. Finally, one piece of paper flew out.

"The champion for Beauxbatons," Madame Maxime announced, catching the paper and looking at it. "Is Aimee Caron."

Dominique looked around for Aimee as the hall burst into applause. "She's over there," said Clara, a Beauxbaton girl sitting next to Dominique, pointing toward a table near the back of the room.

"Please come up to the front of the room," Madame Maxime said. Caron walked up toward the front, and stood next to Madame Maxime. She had stunning blonde hair, which flowed down toward her waist. She smiled in happiness and surprise. Caron had bright blue eyes. Dominique guessed her to be about sixteen or seventeen, older than herself. She looked like she was part-Veela.

The Goblet of Fire was turning red again. A slip of paper shot out again, and Madame Maxime caught it again. "The champion for Durmstrang is," she hesitated, making it dramatic. "Anton Rosencrantz."

A muscular boy, about seventeen or eighteen years of age, walked up to the front of the hall. He had thick eyebrows, short dark brown hair, and brown eyes that seemed to look everywhere at once. The whole room clapped for Rosencrantz.

Now, Dominique knew the last name had to be someone from Hogwarts. Last night, she had entered her name in the Goblet, but she was having second thoughts now. Her two competitors were much older than herself. She was a bit nervous about walking up to the center of the hall, and competing against them. "Please don't be me, please don't be me," she said to herself.

The Goblet of Fire decided for her. At that moment, a slip of paper flew out, and the Goblet turned dark again. Madame Maxime looked at the paper and said, "The Hogwarts champion is James Potter."

Dominique clapped loudly for her cousin. James got up and walked over to the front of the room, proudly and joyfully. Dominique felt happy for James. He deserved it, and would definitely do well. James was a great Quidditch player, and had the physical skills, and he was smart too. It was a good choice for Hogwarts.

"Champions, please go with Monsieurs Moreau and Fournier to the adjacent room to discuss the first task. Everyone else, you may go wherever you wish."  
>Clara looked at the three champions as they left the hall. "Do you know this James Potter?" she asked Dominique. "Do you think he will win?"<p>

"He's my cousin," Dominique replied to Clara. "He's one year older than me. I'm not sure if he'll win, since I don't know the tasks or the other contestants, but he's reasonable. He's the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, so he's decent."

Clara nodded. "I don't want to be mean, but Aimee Caron's one of those girls who seem to spend every hour of their life making themselves look pretty. I don't think she stands a chance."

"I know what you mean. I know people like that," Dominique said. "But you never know. She might turn out to be good at these tasks."

"You don't know Aimee," Clara said. "She's one year older than me, but she—to be frank—is stupid."

"Okay, I'll take your word for it," Dominique laughed. "What about the Durmstrang guy? Anton Rosencrantz?"

"I know as much as you do about him," Clara replied. She looked around for any Durmstrang people. "There's Anna. She was at my table yesterday, and is from Durmstrang." Clara walked over toward her. "Anna!"

Anna turned around. She was a small girl with curly brown hair.

"Hi Clara. What did you think about the champions?"

"Beauxbatons is going to lose. Aimee is the stupidest person ever."

"That's too bad," Anna said. "I don't know about Durmstrang. Rosencrantz is okay. I don't know him that well, since he's eighteen, but he's pretty strong and he's kind of smart."

Clara nodded. "Thanks, Anna."

"What about the Hogwarts champion? James Potter?"

"From what I heard, he's really good." Clara winked at Dominique as she said that.

"I better tell Rosencrantz to watch out for him, then," Anna said.

Clara walked away from Anna back to her original table. "So, the champions are decided," Clara said. "Now, if only we knew what the first task is…"

* * *

><p>James stood in the classroom with his fellow competitors. Rosencrantz was extremely tall, and towered over James, who was of average height. Caron was nervously twirling a piece of her long blonde hair around a finger.<p>

"Congratulations, champions!" The Durmstrang headmaster, Sebastian Bernhardt, had entered the room. Professor McGonagall and Madame Maxime followed.

"Now that everyone's here," Fournier began. "I wish to explain to you the first task. But first, I must say Congratulations, and good luck. The tasks will be extremely difficult, and you will need the luck.

"The First Task will take place on November twenty-second, less than a month away from now. The reason we give you such little time is because you won't need to prepare anything. No, I didn't say anything about it being easy," Fournier said, when Caron looked astonished. "It's going to be very difficult. But you won't need to prepare because you won't have anything to prepare for." When the champions still looked confused, Fournier said, "Simply put, you won't know what the task is until November 22nd. We're not going to tell you anything."

"So, then, how are we supposed to know what to do on the day of the task?" James asked.

"That's the point of the task," Fournier replied. "A true champion is so skillful that he will be able to act right away."  
>Caron sighed. Rosencrantz just grinned, and James didn't say anything. "You know what you signed up for," Fournier said. "Good luck."<p>

"We don't get any clues?" Caron asked. "Nothing?"

"Alright, I'll give you some tips," said Fournier. "Get to know the judges. That means me, Monsieur Moreau, and the three headmasters. Get friendly with the people from other schools. And, most importantly, learn as many spells as you can as possible."

"That's it?" Caron asked resignedly.

"One more thing," Fournier added. "Cheating, although not preferred, is allowed."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Caron demanded.

Fournier just gave her a sly smile. "Whatever you interpret it as."

"Alright, thank you, Mr. Fournier," James said, and he meant it. His hint had sparked a lot of ideas in his mind. "Can we leave now?"

Fournier nodded. "Good luck."

* * *

><p>"Fred! Oliver!"<p>

Fred and Oliver were talking to some Durmstrang students when they heard James' voice. "What is it?" Fred asked.

"Fred, I need to borrow your owl. And yours too, Oliver."

"What's wrong with Gandalf?" Fred asked. "You have your own owl."

"I need to send three letters," James said. "Right away. Then, I need you two to go to the library with me and help me do some research." He ran out to the tents to get the owls.

"Research?" Oliver asked Fred in surprise. "Since when did James willingly want to do research?"

Fred shook his head. "I don't know. I think all this competition and winning has affected his mind."

**I ended on a cliffhanger! (Sort of?) Mwahaha! Suspense…**

**Sorry if I messed up on French. I just used a translator, so I'm not sure if it was right or not.**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thank you so much for all the great comments! Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Harry was dreaming. He was working in the Ministry when a giant dragon broke through the wall and starting chasing him. He could smell the fire and smoke, see the bright shades of the fire, hear the roar of the dragon. Then, he heard a tapping sound.<em> Tap, tap, tap.<em> Harry looked around for the source of the tapping. Surely the dragon wasn't tapping.

"Harry!" Harry opened his eyes. His wife, Ginny was looking at him, holding an owl and a letter.

"Is that Gandalf?" he asked.

Ginny nodded. "He was tapping on the window, wanting to come inside. This letter's addressed to you. I don't know why James would want to contact you this late at night."

"It must be because of the Triwizard Tournament," Harry said. "They revealed the champions last night."

"Do you think it's James?" Ginny asked.

Harry didn't answer. He opened the envelope and read the letter.

_Dear Dad,_

_ Guess what? Last night, the Goblet of Fire picked me to be the Hogwarts champion. Exciting, isn't it? The Beauxbatons champion is Aimee Caron and the Durmstrang champion is Anton Rosencrantz._

_ So after the Goblet chose us, we were told to go to a room for information about the first task. Mr. Fournier, the Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games in France, said that he wouldn't tell us anything about the first task until November 22__nd__, the day of the task. But he did tell us a vague hint. He said to get to know the judges. Get familiar with spells. And be friendly with the students from other schools. And, he added—these are his exact words—cheating, although not preferred, is allowed. What that means, I don't know._

_ I'm writing to you for two reasons. One, you're my dad. Two. You won the last Triwizard Tournament at age fourteen. So now I need your help. Can you please write back with all the information about the Triwizard Tournament you participated in? Like what the tasks were, how you prepared, etc. Fournier implied that background information would help. I need to know as much as possible. Also, if you have any tips on what the cheating hint means, please write. Thanks a lot, Dad!_

_ James_

Harry smiled. "Ginny, James got chosen."

"That's good for him. So he wrote to tell you that?"

"Yes, but also, he needed to know all about how I prepared for the Triwizard Tournament," Harry replied. He got out of bed and went to his desk. Harry got a fresh new sheet of parchment, a quill, and some ink. He began writing.

_Dear James…_

* * *

><p>Fleur was lying in bed, thinking about work, when she heard a loud crash. She jumped out of bed and ran for the window, where the crash had come from. A large owl was repeatedly ramming itself at the window, as if it were a house-elf that didn't obey its master and had to punish itself.<p>

"Why in the world would Fred need to send me a letter at this hour?" Fleur said to herself, recognizing the owl to be Thor, Fred's owl. She opened the window and Thor flew inside. He landed on the bed, enjoying himself.

Fleur untied the letter attached to Thor and opened it. It was addressed to her, but it wasn't from Fred. It was from James. Curiously, Fleur read the letter.

_Dear Aunt Fleur,_

_ I'm sorry for bothering you this late at night, but it's an emergency. Last night I was chosen to be the Hogwarts champion in the Triwizard Tournament. I don't know if you're going to be supporting Beauxbatons or Hogwarts, but I need your help._

_ You participated in the Tournament last time. Can you please reply to this letter with an account of how you prepared, especially for the first task? They didn't tell us anything about the first task. We're not going to know until the day of the task, so I'm really clueless right now. _

_ You went to school at Beauxbatons, right? Because Monsieur Fournier, one of the Ministry people judging the Tournament, gave us some very vague hints. He told us to get to know the students from other schools, and the judges too. You had Madame Maxime. If it isn't too much to ask, can you describe what she is like? How can I get to know her? The same with the students at Beauxbatons. Are they friendly? And the two Ministry people. _

_ Once again, I'm really sorry for bothering you this late at night. Thank you so much._

_ James_

James… Fleur had never really talked to him much. But, she felt it was right to respond. She got out a piece of parchment and began a reply.

_Dear James…_

* * *

><p>Rose was still awake at midnight. Today was supposed to be the day when the champions were announced, and Rose didn't want to miss anything. She had told her cousin Lucy to send her a letter right away about who the champions were. The owl still hadn't arrived. Either Lucy had forgotten, or the owl was lost.<p>

Albus and Scorpius were awake too. They were playing a game of wizard's chess. Scorpius was losing by a lot. Rose watched them play, her mind focused on when Lucy's letter would arrive.

"I think your letter's here," Scorpius said. Rose looked up and saw an owl at the window, holding a letter.

Rose walked over and opened the window. "This isn't Lucy's owl," she said. "I don't know whose owl this is."

"Open the letter, then," Scorpius said. "Read it aloud!"

Rose found the letter and read it aloud to her friends.

"_Dear Rose,_

_ I know you're dying to know who the champions are, and now you can finally find out. It's me! I know, right? You'd never expect the Goblet to choose me, James Potter."_

"The Goblet chose my brother?" Albus exclaimed in shock. "No way."

"Shush, Albus," Rose said. Let me continue."

_"The Beauxbaton champion is Aimee Caron. According to other Beauxbaton students, she's extremely stupid. That's good for me! The Durmstrang champion is Anton Rosencrantz. I'd better watch out for him. He looks like competition._

_ "I'm writing to you because I know you're my smartest cousin—no offense to anyone else. After the choosing of champions we were sent into a room, to be told about the first task. Only, they didn't tell us anything about the task. On November 22__nd__, the day of the task, we're going to have to rely on instinct and our training to battle something mysterious. _

_ "Monsieur Fournier—Head of the Department of Magical Sports and Games—did give us a hint, though. He told us to get familiar with the students from other schools, the judges, the history of the Triwizard Tournament, common spells. Rose, you're a great researcher, and you have access to the Hogwarts Library. Please, do me a favor? If you have time, can you please go to the library and research as much as you can about the past Triwizard Tournament. Please. I need as much help as possible so I don't die on the day of the first task. Oh, and also, Mr. Fournier gave us a weird hint. He said that we're allowed to cheat. ? Any thoughts, Rose?_

_ "Please, please, keep this a secret. You can tell Albus or some other trustworthy friend, but don't tell anyone else, not even Lily. I know she's my sister, but she has a big mouth. She'll tell the world._

_ "If it isn't too much, please help me research. Thank you so much._

_"Your favorite cousin, _

_ "James"_

"Do I count as a trustworthy friend?" Scorpius asked. "I promise I won't tell anyone. And I can help research."

"Of course, Scorpius. You're my best friend, along with Albus," Rose replied. "Do you have any parchment with you? And a quill or ink?"

"Yeah, I have some in here," Albus said. He took out some and handed it to Rose.

"Thanks, Al," she said. She began writing a reply to James.

_Dear James…_

* * *

><p><em>Crash. Pause. Crash. Pause. Crash.<em>

"Er, James?" Fred asked quietly. "I think Thor is trying to get inside."

"This isn't exactly a good time for that."

"Yeah, but Thor is a determined owl. He'll keep on trying until he gets inside."

James groaned. He was in the middle of a Transfiguration lesson. Instead of sending all the students back to their respective schools, Madame Maxime had invited the students to join the Beauxbatons for lessons. James was currently listening to Professeur Martin talk about Vanishing spells. There were about ten people from each school listening.

_Crash._ "James, you should really get Thor now. He's going to break the window soon if you don't open it," Fred whispered.

James sighed, but raised his hand. "Excusez-moi, Professeur Martin?"

"Oui, Potter?"

"Er—my owl is outside, professeur," James said. "May I get him right now?"

"Oui, oui," Professeur Martin replied. "But don't get distracted reading the letter."

"Of course, sir," James said. He quietly got up and walked over to the window. Thor flew inside, passed James, and landed on Martin's desk.

"Sorry, Professeur," James said. "Should I take him away? He's very hyper."

"No, just keep him quiet until the lesson is over. There are only ten more minutes."

"Thank you, sir," James replied. He quickly walked over to he seat and untied the parcel attached to Thor. "Why is your owl so weird?" he asked Fred.

"He's not weird," Fred said, stroking his owl. "He's just very diligent. He's never failed to deliver a letter."

"I'll take your word for it." James opened the letter and recognized Fleur's handwriting. _I'll read it later,_ he thought to himself. For now, he needed to focus on Transfiguration.

_Tap. Tap. Tap._ "James…" Oliver said again.

"Is that Gandalf?" James asked. "Why does he have to come in the middle of a lesson?" Quietly, James got out of his seat and rushed to the window. Luckily, Proffeseur Martin didn't say anything. He just gave James a discouraging frown.

James untied the letter and saw his father's handwriting. He put it next to Fleur's letter, in his bag. Now, he hoped that Oliver's owl wouldn't come.

Luckily, the class ended before Oliver's owl, Tsar, arrived. It was about noon, lunchtime. "Fred, Oliver," James said to his friends. "I need you guys to find the rest of the Weasleys. Its important. We need to have a family meeting. Tell them to meet in our Tent, tent 18. It's important. I need to go to the library quickly to research something. Meet you in our tent." James ran off.

"James is getting so weird," Fred said. "Why does he want to have a family meeting?"

"I dunno," Oliver replied. "But, well, I guess we have to do what he said. They'll probably all be at lunch. Ready?"

"Let's go." Fred and Oliver entered the hall and looked for all the redheads. It took some time and begging, but eventually they got everyone into Tent 18.

Oliver and Fred stood at the front. Dominique, Molly, Roxanne, and a friend that insisted on coming to the family meeting sat on James' bunk. Lucy and Louis sat on the opposite bed. There was a long awkward silence, as they were all waiting for James.

Finally, James entered. "Thanks for getting everyone," he said to Fred and Oliver. "Hi, family," James said to his cousins awkwardly.

They just stared at him.

"Sorry for making you come here," he began, "But I need some help. You're the only ones who I can trust. Promise me you won't tell anyone what I said."

"I can't even tell my friends?" Lucy asked.

"Lorcan and Lysander are okay," James respond. "They're good family friends. But you can only tell really close friends that you trust. Don't tell anyone from Beauxbatons."

"Tell them what?" Lucy asked again.

"About the first task. You see, yesterday when they said I was champion I was told to go into a back room and they told us about the first task. Well, they didn't actually tell us anything. They won't tell us anything about the first task until the day of the task. So we'll have to face it without preparation."

"How does this affect us?" Dominique asked.

"I need your help. See, Mr. Fournier gave us a hint," James continued. "He told us to get familiar with the judges, the students from other schools, and previous tournaments. So I need all of you to help me. I need all of you to get to know students from the other schools, okay? Become friends with them. Find out the strengths and weaknesses of the other champions."

"Are you telling us to spy on our friends?" Molly asked. "Because that's just wrong."

"No, don't spy on them," James said. "Just get to know them. Got it? Good. Now, I also need some people to research… Who believes that they're good at research?" Molly and Dominique raised their hands. "Alright. I already got Rose to do this, but I need you to research past tournaments, okay? Find out what the previous tasks were." They nodded. "I know you're busy, especially with OWLs, but whenever you have time, please research? Thank you.

"The rest of you, just remember to keep your eyes open for anything. If anything suspicious happens, tell me right away. Let's meet here every day at this time to report, okay?"

They nodded, and left the tent.

"Are we supposed to do anything?" Fred asked.

"Yes. I left you the most important thing. You know the Marauder's map I have of Hogwarts, right? The one Dad gave to me? Well, I need you make a Marauder's map of Beauxbatons castle."

"You want us to explore Beauxbatons and find out all the secret passages?" Oliver asked. James nodded.

"If it's not too much to do," he said.

"No, I think we can do it," Oliver replied. "It's not that complex magic. But it'll take some time."

"As long as you can make it before November 22nd, it's fine."

"I think we can do that," Oliver said. "But what are you going to do, James?"

"I need to read all the letters, then get friendly with the judges, then listen to what Rose an Molly researched. But, most importantly, I'm going to learn as many spells as possible," James replied. "If my attempt at finding out what the task is beforehand doesn't work, I'll need to be prepared for anything."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope you enjoyed that chapter! It was fun writing. <strong>

**Usually, I update every day, but I need more than a day to write the next chapter. I'm still thinking about how to make the tasks fit together (Should there be a golden egg or what?) So, I'll try to update before the weekend is over (that means by Sunday). Sorry! But if you have any tips about what the tasks should be, don't hesitate to add it in the review. (I already know what the first task will be, but I'm not sure about the second.)  
><strong>


	9. Chapter 8

James was in the library again, getting ready to learn more spells. Two days had passed since he was announced Hogwarts' champion. James reread part of his father's letter again.

_ I wish I could tell you that I won the Triwizard Tournament purely because of skill and magical ability, but that wasn't the case. I won because a Death Eater in disguise wanted me to win so Voldemort could kill me. I know that's confusing. Forget about it. But the only reason I won was because of help._

_ You see, for the first task, someone—I'm not going to say the name, since that person is still alive—broke the rules of the tournament and let me see what the first task was before it occurred. This person showed me the dragons. And then I got help from that mad death eater about how to fight the dragons. So, James, I'm telling you – I didn't win because of skill. It was all luck. I need to wish you Good Luck, because there is no mad Death Eater this year trying to help you win. You're going to have to rely on skill alone._

_ But what Fournier said is helpful. Do it. And his hint on cheating — well, you know why he said that. I cheated. Fleur cheated. Krum cheated. Everyone cheated. So, if you can cheat, I advise you to do it. But you probably won't be able to cheat. So, I advise you just to learn as many spells as possible._

James sighed. His dad was right. Nobody was going to help him this year. He'd have to rely on his own skill. He wandered around the library and found a thick book that included spells to fight every magical creature alive. Yesterday, Rose had sent him a letter containing a comprehensive history of the Triwizard Tournament.

_The first ever Triwizard Tournament was held in 1294, at Durmstrang Institute. Since this was the first tournament, the tasks were relatively harmless. However, as time progressed, the tasks got more dangerous. The Triwizard Tournament was held every five years, at a different school. The last one, in 1792, resulted in serious injures with the Headmasters of the three schools, so the Tournament was cancelled, until 1994._

_ The First Task is designed to test the champions' courage and daring. Usually, it involves facing some sort of magical beast. In 1294, the first task was facing creatures that were labeled XX by the Ministry. (You know, the way of classifying creatures according to their danger level? The more Xs, the more dangerous.) It was just simple Grindylows or Hinkypunks, things that we learn how to fight in our Third Year. However, time passed and it got harder. In the 1500s, the creatures became XXX, such as Sea serpents, Hippogriffs, etc. By the 1600s, it was XXXX: Griffins or Erklings. Then, well, you know what comes next. XXXXX. Ex: dragons, Manticores, Lethifolds. The 1792 task required the champions to try to capture a cockatrice. They are extremely dangerous creatures, like Basilisks, that can petrify people if you stare at them. That cockatrice went on the loose and injured many people, so the Tournament ended._

_ The Second task is generally…_

James had stopped reading would worry about the Second task when he got there. For now, he had to try to learn all the spells to repel creatures, so he would be able to fight any creature when the time came. He had a lot of work ahead to do. The book was more than a thousand pages long.

James was just about to open the book when he heard someone shout his name. He turned. There was a small boy, about 11 or 12, standing next to him. "Yes?" James asked.

"You're James, right?" He asked. "You need to go to Room 318 to have your wand checked. Right now."

"Okay, thank you," James replied. He packed up his bags and was about to leave when he noticed the boy was still standing there.

"Yes?"

"I'm supposed to show you to Room 618," the boy said. "They weren't sure if you would know where it is."

In reality, James knew where Room 618 was. But, James knew he should try to become friends with all the Beauxbatons students. So he just said, "Lead the way."

"Follow me." The boy exited the library and went down the hall. This was a good time for James to find something about the castle, and learn about Beauxbatons.

"What's your name?" James asked the boy.

"Nicolas."

"Are you a first year?"

The boy nodded.

"How did you learn to find your way around the castle so quickly?"

Nicolas thought for a moment. "Well, Beauxbatons looks complicated, but it's actually simple. You see, the whole castle is basically a clock."

"A what?"

"A clock. It's a clock for two reasons. It's in a circular shape, and it changes with time, like a clock too. If you keep on walking down this hallway, you'll eventually come back here. There are six floors, half of what a clock has. There's also secret rooms that only appear at a certain hour. I'm not exactly certain where they are, but if you ask some older students, they'll tell you."

"Thanks, Nicolas." It made sense, what he said. All the hallways were circular, and there were two stairways on each floor, one to either side of the 'circle.' Nicolas led James up a flight of stairs, down the hallway, and to Room 618.

"See you later, James." The boy left.

James looked at the room. He had never been on the sixth floor often. Most of his classes were on the first three floors. The students' dormitories were generally on the fourth or fifth, and so was the library. What was on this floor?

He opened the door. The other two champions weren't there yet. There was just Monsieur Fournier, a man holding a camera, and an old man.

James awkwardly walked in. "Er, hi," he said.

"Hello, Potter," Fournier said. James liked Monsieur Fournier the most out of the judges. He was only about ten years older than him, and he seemed relatively friendly. "Do you know Monsieur Guillory?" He motioned to the old man.

"No," James replied. Guillory had straggly gray hair, lots of wrinkles, and a weary and tired expression.

"He's one of the finest wandmakers in France," Fournier explained. "He's here today to make sure that your wand is of working condition. It would be bad if your wand broke in the middle of a task, wouldn't it?"

"Yes," James said. Now that he had the opportunity to talk to the judges, James found that he wasn't sure what to say. He remembered Fleur's letter.

_ If you want to be able to talk with the judges, and get them to become friendly with you, this is my advice. Just be yourself. I know that you are a very bright and intelligent child. Talk to them, and soon they'll get to know you. Just don't afraid to talk. Madame Maxime, on the other hand…_

It was good advice. Now, James tried to be himself. "It would be really bad if that happened," he said, referring to the fact that his wand could possibly fail in the middle of a task. "Especially if the task was something dangerous, like facing dragons."

"Don't worry, there aren't any dragons this year," Fournier said. "What you'll be facing is much tamer."

"That's good." James tried not to show it, but he was ecstatic. Fournier had just confirmed that he would be facing a creature. He believed Rose when she wrote that usually the first task was against a beast, but he didn't know for certain. Now, if only he could narrow down the field much further to one specific creature. There were hundreds of creatures; it would take ages to research all of them. "Er, how exactly do you make sure that a wand is functioning correctly?" He directed the question to Monsieur Guillory.

"It's very complicated," Guillory responded. "You see, I spent my whole life studying wandlore. A wand has its own mind. If you are an expert in wands, it is simple to go inside the wand's mind, and see if it is still, if I may use the word, rational."

"Is it hard to study wandlore?" James asked.

"It is not difficult," Guillory said. "It is unusual. If you decide to expertise in it, most of your work will be solitary. You won't have an owner or employees. It'll be all self-employment. And most of it will be hard, difficult work, with lots of guesswork."

"I see," James said. "Well, it sounds interesting, but I don't think that's the right job for me."

"What do you want to be, then?"

"Me? If I had my choice, I would be an Auror, like my dad."

"Your dad? Who is he?"

James wished he didn't steer the conversation in that direction. He hated talking about his dad. It made him sound pompous. "Harry Potter. I'm James Potter."

Guillory didn't gasp like most people. He just looked at James curiously. "I know your father. Not personally. But one of my old teachers, Ollivander, told me all about him. Said he was so curious about wands. Not unlike you."

James didn't know what to say. Luckily, the door opened and the two other champions walked in, rescuing James from having to answer.

Rosencrantz walked in with a blank look in his eyes. He didn't smile at anyone, he just gazed at the ground. Caron had a big smile on her face and smiled at everyone.

"Well, everyone's here now!" Fournier exclaimed. "We have a special guest, Madame Guillory, the finest wandmaker in France, to make sure your wands are fully functional. It's a short test, and then we'll take a few pictures, and you can be off to your classes. So, who wants to be first?"

Nobody volunteered. "Alright, then, how about ladies first?" Fournier suggested.

Caron shrugged. "Okay." She removed her wand and handed it to Guillory.

"Ooo, very nice," he said. "I remember making it for you. Ten and a half inches. Made out of oak wood. Contains a unicorn hair tail. Very supple and pliant." He gave it a wave and flowers sprouted out. "Perfect." He handed it back to Caron.

"How about, you, next?" he asked, pointing to Rosencrantz.

He grunted, and gave his wand to the wandmaker.

Guillory examined the wand in his hand. "Fourteen inches," he said. "Very stiff. Willow and dragon heartstring." He flicked the wand and made water stream out. "In good condition."

"My turn, right?" James asked. He handed his wand to Guillory.

"Interesting," he said, examining it. "Eleven and a quarter inches. Elm and dragon heartstring. Not stiff, but not supple either. More… in-between." He waved it and birds flew out. "Very nice. Use it well." He gave it back to James.

"Now, gather around for a group picture," Fournier said. Rosencrantz grunted and moved toward the back. Caron and James stood in the front.

The man with the camera motioned for them to get closer. Then, he told them to smile. The camera clicked. "Excellent. This should appear in the French Times tomorrow."

"Wonderful," James said to himself.

"Okay, back to your classes," Fournier said.

"Potter, can I have a word?" James was about to exit when he heard the voice of the wandmaker again.

"Er, sure," he replied. "What is it?"

"You have a very interesting wand," Guillory said. "Make sure that you never give it to anyone else. Treasure it with all your heart."

"Okay," James said. "I'll try to do that."

"No, you cannot just try. You must. This wand can do great things, but in the presence of an enemy, it can do dark things," Guillory said. "Remember this."

James nodded. He headed toward the door.

"And good luck."

* * *

><p><strong>I know this chapter isn't that exciting, but please read and review! I'll update once a day as usual!<br>**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9... Please read and review!**

* * *

><p>"James, we finished the map!" Fred and Oliver ran toward their friend, waving a piece of parchment in the air. Two-and-a-half weeks had passed since James was declared Hogwarts champion.<p>

"Good," James said. He looked at the blank paper. "What do I say?"

"I solemnly swear that I am up to some good," Fred said.

"Where'd you come up with that?" James asked sarcastically. But he tapped the paper, and said, "I solemnly swear that I am up to some good." A map sprung up, with dots with everyone's name everywhere. "Wow, thank you so much. How much work did it take to do this?"

"It wasn't that bad," Oliver replied. "But we only mapped the main areas. Beauxbatons probably has lots of secret passages, but we didn't have time to explore them."

"That's fine," James said. "Thank you so much. If you every do find some secret place, just tell me, and I can update the map."

"Okay," Oliver said. "But, hey, do you want to know something? As we were exploring the halls, mapping it out, we always saw Fournier and Moreau and the headmasters in one specific place. The sixth floor corridor."

"Which room?" James asked.

"That's the weird thing," Oliver said. "Usually, if we're watching the map, the two of them are just walk down the sixth floor corridor, without going into a room. But once in a while, they stop, and then disappear. That always happens at the same place."

"Is there a certain hour that this happens?" James asked. He remembered what Nicolas had told him about Beauxbatons being a clock.

"I'm not sure," Oliver said. "They usually walk along there in the mornings or evenings, but I didn't notice a specific hour when they disappear. You can check yourself, now, if you want, since the map is yours."

"Thanks so much," James said. "You don't have to do anything else for me. I promise I'll give you both really good Christmas presents this year."

The three friends walked toward Tent 18. It was time for the daily family meeting. Usually, his cousins didn't report much, but this day, he had something to tell them.

"Hello, everyone," James said. "Anything to report?"

They all shook their heads. "Well, I need to tell you something important." James had already gotten enough information from Molly and Dominique, so he had allowed them to stop researching. "I need you to all take turns watching the sixth floor corridor."

"Why?" Lucy asked.

"I believe that Monsieurs Fournier and Moreau are, er, discussing things about the first task up on that floor," James said. "It'll look to suspicious if I'm up there everyday by myself, but if all of you take turns going there, it won't be as suspicious. I just need you to take turns going up there in the mornings and evenings. Just casually walk around the hallway. So, who wants to do Monday and Thursday mornings?"

"I'll do it," Dominique agreed. "But we won't get in trouble, will we, if they find us eavesdropping?"

"No, it's fine," James answered. "Monsieur Fournier said that we're allowed to cheat. So, who wants Monday and Thursday nights?"

In the end, James got all his relatives to monitor a specific morning or evening. "Thank you all so much. I promise, if I win the Triwizard Tournament, which I probably will because of all your help, I'll give all of you a share of the winnings."

* * *

><p>Lucy prowled the sixth floor. She had agreed to watch on Tuesday and Wednesday evenings. It was currently Tuesday, November 18th, four days before the First Task. She had done this twice already. On the first one, she hadn't seen anyone; on the second watch, she had seen Monsieurs Fournier and Moreau walking down the corridor, talking to each other in low voices. She had followed them for a while, trying to listen, but Moreau had turned around and had given Lucy a suspicious look. She had left after that.<p>

"There's no one here!" Lysander said. "Can we just go?"

"Shh!" Even though Lucy had told him that it was easier going by herself, Lysander had insisted on accompanying her to spy on the judges. "James is relying on me to help him, and I can't fail him."

"Let's just stay for a few more minutes."

"You can go if you want!" Lucy said. "I didn't force you to come here. Leave, if you want."

"I'll stay for a few more minutes," Lysander said. "If nobody shows up, I'll go. I just want some excitement, some stalking to do."

"You like stalking people? That's so wrong," Lucy said.

"I like having some fun to do," Lysander replied. "I don't usually stalk people."

"Sure, whatever you say," Lucy answered. With a start, she realized that Monsieur Fournier and Moreau were walking down the hall toward them. She had to start acting like she belonged there. "Lysander, you said the library's on this floor. It's not here anywhere!"

For a few seconds, Lysander looked confused. Then he recognized the two judges and caught on. "It's supposed to be here…" he walked up to a random room and looked at the door. He examined it for a few seconds, while the judges walked past. "Yes! Let's go follow them," he whispered.

Lucy agreed. "We need to be very quiet."

The two waited for the judges' footsteps to fade, then slowly walked in the opposite direction they came from. The judges were far ahead, whispering to each other.

"How are we supposed to hear what they're saying?" Lysander whispered.

"I dunno," Lucy responded. "We can't go closer… I just hope they start talking louder."

They didn't. But, something happened. The two judges stopped walking. Lucy and Lysander ran backwards until they were out of the judges' sight. They could still see the judges, though, since they were peering over the edge of the wall.

"What are they doing?" Lucy wondered. Monsieur Fournier walked back and forth several times, staring at a blank wall. Moreau was doing the same. Then, they stopped. But a door had appeared.

"Whoa," Lysander said in awe. Monsieur Fournier pulled the door open, let Moreau walk in first, and followed. The door closed behind there. Lucy and Lysander ran after it, but when they got there, the door disappeared.

"We have to tell James!" Lucy said. "You stay here. Make sure they judges don't leave. I'll get James."

Lucy ran off, leaving Lysander standing next to a blank wall.

* * *

><p>Oliver was in his tent, lying on his bed. It was only 9:30, but he was tired.<p>

The tent flap opened and the last person he expected to come in entered. Lucy Weasley. She saw her brother's friend sleeping and awkwardly stepped back.

"Oh, hi," Oliver said. "I was just taking a nap."

Lucy nodded. "Do you know where James is? I need to talk to him right now. It's important. I think I found out where the judges have been all along."

Oliver sat up. "I think I know where James is. Follow me." He grabbed his bag and left the tent, followed by Lucy. "So, what happened?"

Lucy explained what she had seen. "Interesting…" Oliver remarked. Nobody but James, Fred, and he knew about the map, so he couldn't tell Lucy his suspicions. But since their Map of Beauxbatons couldn't plot the room, it had to either have a magical spell cast over it, or it would change every day.

Oliver led Lucy toward the library. James was usually there, studying spells, so he expected him to be there now. But, when he opened the door to the library, he didn't see James.

"Strange," Oliver said. "James isn't here…"

"Then where is he?" Lucy asked. "We need to find him as soon as possible, or the judges will have left."

"He could be all over the school," Oliver said. "He's probably trying to learn all the secret passages around Beauxbatons."

"But then he could be anywhere!" Lucy said. "We'll never find him this way."

Oliver shrugged. "Oh well… Why don't we just go up to the sixth floor and see if we can find anyway to open the door ourselves?"

Lucy agreed. They walked up two floors toward the sixth floor. As they walked over to the secret door, James and Lysander were already there.

"How did you get here?" Oliver asked in surprise.

"I was exploring," James said. "With the… well, you know. And I knew that Lucy and Lysander were on the sixth floor. And, well, I saw the judges on it too. And then they disappeared. So I came here."

"What?" Lucy asked.

"Never mind," Oliver said quickly. "So, how did they get the door to appear?"

"They walked back and forth about five times, and then the door appeared," Lucy responded.

"Yeah, but that doesn't work," Lysander said. "I tried that while I was waiting here, and it didn't work."

Lucy did it anyway, again. Sure enough, it didn't work. "But why doesn't it work?"

"Maybe you have to think something, while you're walking, or you have to walk past at a certain time, or you have to be holding something, or many other things," Oliver said. "We're never going to find out how to get in. They're too many possibilities."

"So we have to find somebody who knows how this room works," James said. "I bet a lot of Beauxbatons students know how it works. Oliver, wait here with them. I'm going to find someone who knows how this door works." With that, James ran off again.

* * *

><p>James ran down the stairs toward the library. He remembered what Nicolas had said about Beauxbatons palace being a clock, and older students knowing how it worked. Over the past few weeks, while researching in the library, he had always seen a few people always there. James had talked to them a little, and they seemed like they would know the secret of the sixth floor.<p>

He entered the library and saw Gilbert Bertrand, an energetic seventh year who only spent time in the library because of all his homework. Otherewise, Gilbert said, he would have been exploring the castle or playing Quidditch outside.

"Hey, Gilbert!" James walked over to Gilbert, who was studying at a table far from the librarian.

"Hi, James," Gilbert said.

"I have a quick question," James said. "Do you know if there are any secret rooms in the castle, especially on the sixth floor?"

"Yeah, there are plenty," Gilbert replied. "Most of them are on the sixth floor – that's why there aren't many classrooms there."

"How do you get access to the secret rooms?" James asked.

"Well, it varies," Gilbert said. "You see, Beauxbatons castle is very mysterious. The secret classrooms change every hour. Is there a specific place you're looking for?"

"Um, sixth floor, next to the far stairs, between room 603 and 605."

"Ah, I think there is a secret room there," Gilbert said. "But don't tell anyone what I'm going to tell you, okay? The room is only possible to access in the morning, between 7 and 8, or at night, between 8 and 9. To access it, you need to walk back and forth a couple of times, but you must carry a stone with you."

"A stone? Why?"

"I don't know," Gilbert replied. "The rooms are strange."

"Thanks a lot, Gilbert," James said. "But how did you find out?"

"Oh, every seventh year knows," Gilbert said. "It's a tradition. The former seventh years tell the next ones on the last day of school. Besides, once you live here for six years, you figure out the secrets of the castle."

* * *

><p>"I found out how to access the room!" James called as he ran toward the empty wall where the secret room was supposed to be.<p>

"How?" Lucy asked.

"You have to carry a stone with you," James responded. "Don't ask me why or how I figured out, that's what you have to do. I already got a stone from outside, so let me see if it works."

James took the stone from his pocket and held it in his hands while he walked back and forth five times. From the gasps he heard, he knew that Gilbert had been right. A shiny, brown door appeared.

Lysander put his hand on the knob. "Stop!" James whispered. "We can't just go in right now."

"So what are you going to do?" he asked.

James and Oliver exchanged glances. James was planning to use his Invisibility Cloak, a present from his father, to enter the room, invisible. However, Lucy and Lysander didn't know about it, and James didn't plan to tell them.

"We're going to make ourselves invisible," James improvised quickly. "With a spell."

"You know how?" Lucy asked. "That's advanced magic."

"We're advanced," James said. "But you can't watch us do the spell. You're too young to learn to do it. You can't even hear us say it. So, leave."

"Can we come back in a few minutes?" Lysander asked. "We'll guard the door."

"No, it's too suspicious if the judges walk out and you two are just standing there," James said. "Sorry, but you have to go. Thank you so much. I promise if I win I'll give you a huge portion."

"Fine, then," Lucy said. "I'm getting a little tired, anyway. Let's go." She and Lysander left.

"That was good thinking," Oliver said. "The only problem is Lucy's going to be thinking that we can do invisibility spells now."

"Oh, well," James said. "That doesn't matter. Invisibility spells exist, we can just pretend we know how to do them. So, ready to enter?"

Oliver nodded. "But won't it be suspicious if a door opens by itself?"

"Well, what else can we do?" James said. "Besides, they won't get mad. At least, Monsieur Fournier won't. He'll think it was very smart of me to think of it."

"Okay, then," Oliver agreed. He and James put on the old invisibility cloak, and vanished. "On the count of three?"

James nodded. "Fred is going to be so mad that we didn't tell him about this." He put his hand on the doorknob. "One, two, three." He twisted the knob, opened the door, and they stepped inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review!<strong>


	11. Chapter 10

**A/N: Aren't cliffhangers fun? There's another one this chapter! :)  
><strong>

**This is Chapter 10 of Eternal Glory… Wow, I'm in the double digits already. And the First Task didn't even occur yet. This story is going to be very long…**

* * *

><p>The room was large. The walls were painted with bright colors, and there were paintings of wild animals. There was a lot of furniture in the room—chairs, tables. They looked like they were made of bamboo.<p>

The judges were at the far side of the room, talking in normal voices to each other. They were faced away from the door, so they didn't see it open. James and Oliver walked back and lightly closed the door. From the inside, it looked completely different. It was made of bamboo weaved together to form a door.

Under the cloak, James and Oliver walked in unison toward the opposite side of the room, where the judges were sitting. They had been using the cloak for so long that they were experts at walking under it. As they got a bit closer, they could hear what the judges were saying.

"…not sure who we'll be able to find," Monsieur Moreau was saying. "Nobody in France speaks that language."

"Then we'll have to find someone from another country," Fournier replied. "From Britain, perhaps, or Norway, where the two schools are located."

"Are you sure we should continue with this task?" Moreau asked. "It's not going very well. There are plenty of other creatures we could use."

"No, we can't change tasks," Fournier said. "There are only four more days till the First Task; it's too late to change. We just need to get someone who can control the trolls – it shouldn't be that hard."

"Who's going to want to volunteer after what happened to the last person?" Moreau said. "He got both his legs broken! Nobody wants that to happen to them!"

"But if we explain to the new person why Clement got his legs broken, they'll be willing to help us," Fournier insisted. "Clement lied about knowing how to train a troll; if he really knew how to control it, he wouldn't have gotten hurt."

"Well, we have three days to get someone to calm down the trolls," Moreau said. He sighed.

James held his breath. If his ears were correct, the first task was to fight a troll. Next to him, Oliver was trying to hold in his cough. "James…" he choked out. "I need to cough."

"That's not good." James and Oliver quickly ran backwards, away from the judges, toward the door. They didn't get there in time, though; Oliver let out a small cough. It was quiet, but it was noticeable in the quiet.

"Who's there?" Monsieur Moreau stood up, looking where the sound had come from. He walked toward the boys.

"What are you doing, Gustav?" Fournier asked.

"It sounded like someone coughed," Moreau responded. "It came from other there. If someone is spying, they'll be in big trouble."

"Really? I didn't hear anyone," Fournier said. "How would they get in, anyway? We didn't see the door open. And they would have to somehow be invisible."

"I don't know; it's probably a student trying to find out information about the first task ahead of time," Moreau said. "If you're out there, I'll find you," he said to the air.

James shivered. He was in the corner, and Moreau kept on walking towards him. If he got caught… he didn't want to think what would happen.

"Even if there is someone there, we can't find him," Fournier said to the other judge. "We should just leave this room. They didn't hear much information."

"They learned about the trolls!" Moreau said, but he stepped backwards, away from James and Oliver. "Fine, then, let's go. I'm pretty sure there's someone there, though!" He pointed toward the corner. "You're in luck that I didn't find out who you are. But, if you ever spy on us again, I promise that you're not going to leave with knowledge of what we said."

"Come on, Gustav," Fournier said. "Stop threatening the air."

"No, there's someone there," Moreau said. "I think I know who you are. You're James Potter, aren't you? Don't think I didn't recognize all the spies you've sent onto the sixth floor. But you'll get away with it this time. But next time, you'll be disqualified."

With that, Moreau and Fournier left the room.

* * *

><p>"So Moreau threatened us, Fournier calmed him down, and then they left," Oliver explained. It was the following morning; James, Oliver, and Fred were in Charms, learning the <em>Aguamenti <em>spell.

"I still don't get why you didn't tell me," Fred whined. "Why didn't you wait for me?"

"We told you, we didn't have time to get you," Oliver said. "Besides, it wasn't exactly fun. We got threatened by Monsieur Moreau, one of the most important people in the French Ministry of Magic. You wanted to be there?"

"Of course," Fred said. "That sounds fun."

"Stop chattering, and practice," said Proffessour Dubois, walking over to the three.

"Oh, I already know how to do the spell," James said. "We were taught, in Hogwarts, at the beginning of the year."

"Demonstrate, then," Dubois said. "Go on."

"Alright." James pointed his wand at the empty glass and said, "Aguamenti!"

The glass filled with clear water. "Good," Dubois commented. "Can you two do it too?"

They nodded. "Since you three appear to be experts, why don't you help some other students who are struggling, instead of having a conversation?" Dubois suggested. "This is Charms class, not lunch. Now, go."

Fred shot Proffessour Dubois a mean glare but went to help some strugglers. James and Oliver went to other students. The class ended in a few minutes. Immediately, James ran to the library.

"Why don't you just ask the librarian how to kill a troll?" Fred suggested. "You're never going to find the answer in all these books."

"She'll be suspicious," James answered. "Why would a sixteen year old want to know how to kill a troll?"

Fred shrugged. "Well, you're not going to find the answer if you don't ask her."

"Yes I will," James insisted. "Do you want to bet?"

"Yes, I do," Fred replied. "Five sickles that you won't find out how to kill a troll by researching in the library on your own. And that means you can't ask anyone to help you research."

"No deal," James said. "I need others to help me research in case I can't. _In case_, Fred. I didn't say I definitely wouldn't be able to find it. I would bet, but this is a desperate situation. I need to know how to stop a troll in four days, or I'm dead."

"Well, I would have won the bet anyway," Fred said. "Do you want me to help you research?"

"That would be nice," James said. The two friends set their books down on a table, and then went to get books on troll-killing.

* * *

><p>In the end, James didn't find out how to stop a troll on his own. It was Rose who had found out. James had sent a letter to his cousin asking if she could help research. The next day, Rose sent a letter back.<p>

_James,_

_ I spent the whole night last night researching about how to stop trolls. Trust me, it was boring and difficult research. But I found out how to stop trolls!_

_ There are three types of trolls: mountain, river, and forest. They're quite similar, and you can stop them in the same way. There are a few options to stopping trolls. 1. Know how to speak troll (the language), and tell them to go away. I know you're smart, James, but even you can't master a language in a day, so that option's out of the question. 2. Knock them out with spells. This is what I advise you to do. Trolls are rather big and strong, so you need to be familiar with all kinds of spells. The best way, though, is to get rid of its weapon. Trolls usually use clubs as their weapon of choice. Get rid of their weapon, and then they can't block any of your spells. Stunning spells don't usually work – trolls are too big. But freezing spells or others will work. It all depends on what your task is. I doubt it'll require you to kill the troll. That's nearly impossible. It'll probably be to get past it, or get something it's guarding. By freezing it, you should complete your task._

If Rose was right, the first task seemed quite easy. All James had to do was cast the Impediment Spell and the troll would be controlled. It definitely wouldn't be that easy. Perhaps they would add a twist, or another creature.

The night before the task, James didn't sleep well. He kept having nightmares about trolls attacking him, and waking up afterwards.

"James?"

"I don't want to go…" James replied sleepily.

"Wake up!" Fred and Oliver were shouting in James' ear. "The First Task is today."

"I think I'm going to quit," James said.

Fred slapped him. "What did you do that for?" James asked.

"Get up!" Fred shouted. "Unless you want me to do that again."

"I'm getting up, I'm getting up," James said. "Just give me five minutes."

"You only have fifteen minutes before the task starts," Oliver said. "So hurry up. We'll meet you in the dining hall."

Five minutes later, James groggily walked into the hall for breakfast. It looked much more crowded than usual to him. "Why are there so many people today?" he wondered.

"James!" Lily ran up to her brother and gave him a hug. "We got to come today to watch you do the First Task!"

"Great. You get to watch me fail," James said sarcastically.

"No. You'll do great!" Lily insisted. "I'll be cheering for you the whole time."

"Thanks, Lily," James said. "But I'm really nervous right now and need to calm down. So please go away to your own friends now."

Lily pouted but left. James sat down next to Oliver and sighed. "I'm going to get killed today."

"No, you'll be fine," Oliver said. "At least you'll have an advantage over the other champions. You already know what the task is, and you already know how to defeat the trolls. You'll be fine."

James nodded. "I hope so. When is the task starting? I want to get it over with."

"Five minutes," Oliver replied. "You should probably head outside soon. Eat some breakfast first, though."

"No, I can't eat anything right now," James said. "See you guys later. I'm going outside now."

As James walked toward his doom, he saw Rose, Albus, and Scorpius talking. Rose gave James a smile and said, "Good luck."

"Thanks," James said. He continued walking, hoping that he wouldn't get injured. Then he got outside, and gasped. There was still sand next to Beauxbatons castle, but on the far left, there was a river, with lots of grass and dirt around it, and a bridge. On the far right, there were a lot of trees. That river and the trees had never been there before.

He walked over and saw his fellow champions standing in awe and shock. Monsieurs Fournier and Moreau were standing there. James walked over to them.

"What took you so long?" Moreau asked. "We were waiting for you."

"Sorry," James replied. "I overslept."

Moreau looked angrily at him. James guessed that Moreau still suspected that he had been in the secret room, spying on him. "Well, as you can see, the first task is almost set up. Do you wish to know what you'll have to do?"

"Not really," Caron said.

"Well, you'll have to," Fournier replied. He took out a small bag and opened it. "Chose one," he said to Caron. She put her hand in and pulled out a small blue circle with the number 1 on it.

"Good choice!" Fournier commented. He gave the bag to Rosencrantz next. He pulled out a green circle with the number 2.

James was last. He pulled out the last one, a brown circle with the number 3. He stared at it, in confusion.

"Do you see the numbers on the circles?" Fournier asked. They nodded. "That's the order you'll be going in for the First Task. Aimee, you'll be first, and James will be last. You all have a different color circle, too. Can anyone guess what that means?"

James had a feeling he knew what it meant, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want the others to know he had cheated. "Nobody?" Fournier asked again. "Well, your task today is to get the club from the thing you'll be attacking. Each of you will have the same general thing to fight, but it'll be a little different. See, you'll all be fighting trolls."

Caron and Rosencrantz looked shocked. James tried to pull on a surprised face too, but he didn't think it worked, since Moreau glared at him again. Luckily, the two other champions were too busy worrying to look at James.

"You'll all have different variations of trolls, though," Fournier continued. "Aimee, you have the river troll, as you can probably tell from the blue circle, and the river that's right there." He pointed toward the river that they were next to. "Anton, you're going to fight the forest troll, which will be over there." He pointed a bit further away from the castle, where there was a lot of trees. "And you, James, will get the mountain troll. Beauxbatons doesn't have any mountains, so you'll just have to fight in plain sight, on the sand. That's the closest we can get."

_Great_, James thought. Mountain trolls were the hardest to fight. And he had to fight on the sand, with no scenery to hide in. The only good thing was he was third, so he had time to prepare.

"We'll give you ten minutes to think," Fournier said. "Then, the first champion will have to come out and fight. Good luck."

* * *

><p><strong>I hope this chapter didn't move too quickly. Anyway, please review! Please? (Thanks so much to SaraHunterofArtemis and L-U-N-A-654 for reviewing every single chapter! Thank you so much! Continue reviewing?)<strong>


	12. Chapter 11

**The First Task! I hope it's dangerous enough, and interesting.**

* * *

><p>Dominique sat in the stands, waiting for the champion to get out and some action to begin. She still didn't know what the first task was, but she wanted something to happen.<p>

The judges—Professor McGonagall, Madame Maxime, Professor Bernhardt (the Durmstrang Headmaster), Monsieur Fournier, and Monsieur Moreau—were sitting in the front row of the stands, ready to watch and judge how well the champion performed. Nearby, there was a small tent, where the champions were preparing. Any minute, a champion would walk out.

Suddenly, the flap opened and the Beauxbatons champion Aimee Caron walked out. The audience applauded for her. Caron looked extremely nervous, and, for once, wasn't smiling. Monsieur Fournier stood up and moved towards the tent, so he wouldn't block anyone's view. Then he said, "Sonorus!" His voice magnified 10 times.

"Welcome, everyone, to the 2019th Triwizard Tournament! Today is the day of the First Task. The goal of the task is to get the club from the enemy they will be facing, the troll!" The crowd gasped and applauded. "Aimee Caron, from Beauxbatons, will be first, facing the dangerous River Troll!"

The audience applauded again. Caron stood there, looking extremely worried, when a man walked out from underneath the bridge. He was covered in mud and dirt. He walked over to Fournier and whispered something to him. Fournier nodded. The man returned to under the bridge.

"The champion has unlimited time to get the club from the troll," Fournier announced. "But the judges will be awarding points based on time, strategy, magical ability, and amount of injuries. The champion is only allowed to use his body, his wand, and objects around him. And he cannot use the 'accio' spell to summon the club. But anything else works. So, Mademoiselle Caron's time begins now!"

Caron walked into the middle of the grass. There was no troll anywhere. She walked over toward the river and the bridge. Still no troll. The whole audience seemed to be holding its breath along with Caron.

"So the champion doesn't see the troll anywhere," commentated Fournier. "She's looking around. But wait! Here it comes!"

All of a sudden, a giant creature jumped up from underneath the bridge. Dominique gasped. The troll was ten feet tall, with purple skin and short, blunt, horns. It was holding a club with many spikes on the outside.

The champion stepped backwards as the troll followed her. "Stupefy!" she shouted. The spell hit the troll on the stomach but simply bounced back at Caron. She ducked, and the spell went over her head. The troll didn't get injured; it just got even madder. It ran forward and swung its club at Caron. She moved sideways, but the troll's club hit the side of her leg and scraped through the cloth covering it. The crowd gasped as a little blood flowed down her leg.

"Oh no! Caron is injured," Fournier said.

Caron didn't seem perturbed, though. She began casting all kinds of spells at the troll. "Expulso! Confringo! Stupefy! Incendio!"

"Why does she want fire?" Dominique asked Clara quietly.

"No idea," she replied.

Sure enough, fire started to blaze around the troll. The troll grunted loudly, but ran away from the fire, jumping into the river. A huge splash exploded. Caron groaned. She put out the fire easily, but now the troll was gone and there was no way she could get the club.

"Ten minutes have passed," Fournier commentated. "And the troll has disappeared again. Caron is now looking for the troll again."

Sure enough, the troll seemed to be hiding. Evidently it was frightened of fire, and didn't want to come out. Caron sighed and looked down into the river. All she could see was a dark blob.

"Fifteen minutes have passed," Fournier said. "The troll's not coming up… The champion had better do something soon."

Caron heard what Fournier had said. She walked onto the bridge, and looked down into the water. Then, without further ado, she jumped in.

"Whoa!" Fournier shouted. "Our Beauxbaton champion has nerve! She jumps into the river to fight the troll! Now, I can't see anything in the water, so we'll just have to wait and see what happens."

Dominique was staring at the river. All she could see were bubbles at the top of the murky water. Everyone was waiting for Caron or the troll to come out of the water.

Then, all of a sudden, Caron jumped out, covered in water, with an extremely irritated troll following her. "Impedimenta!" she screamed. The troll froze. The audience applauded in delight as Caron reached up to grab the club that the troll was holding. She managed to pry it from the troll's fingers, and held it up in the air.

"And our first champion has finally got the club!" Fournier said. "Now the judges will confer for a few minutes and decide on how many points to give."

The dirty man reappeared and seemed to grunt something to the troll. The troll grunted back. The man went underneath the bridge, and the troll followed him.

Madame Nourse, the nurse, led Caron toward the tent. "Wait!" Fournier shouted. "She needs to see her score first!"

"No, she needs to be healed first," the nurse insisted.

"I'm fine," Caron said. "It'll only a few minutes."

The nurse looked angry. "Fine, then hurry up."

"Alright!" Fournier announced. "The judges have decided on their scores. They will award points based on 1-10. The higher, the better."

Professor Bernhardt was first. He raised his wand up and the number 'seven' appeared above it. Caron nodded, accepting it.

Madame Maxime was next. Nine points. "Well, it's her student," Dominique thought. "Of course she'd award a lot of points."

Professor McGonagall awarded Caron with eight points. Then Monsieur Moreau went, also awarding Caron eight points. Last was Monsieur Fournier. He gave her seven points.

"So, Aimee Caron of Beauxbatons has 39 points," Fournier announced. "We took off some points because in the beginning you were randomly casting spells at the troll, which was a bit dangerous, and also caused the troll to run away. But we gave high points too, because you dared to jump into the water and get the troll. You also had an average time of eighteen minutes. Congratulations. You can go into the tent now, if you wish."

"Thank you," Caron said, and left, looking extremely relieved.

"Next!" Fournier announced. "Anton Rosencrantz of Durmstrang Academy will be fighting the Forest Troll. But before we can start, everyone must move toward the other side of the school so we can be in the troll's native environment."

Dominique stood up and walked down the stands toward the ground. "Aimee wasn't that bad, right?" she asked Clara.

"She looked so funny casting all those random spells," Clara said. "I'm surprised the judges didn't take off more points. But I guess she did okay, considering how intimidating the troll was."

"You didn't expect her to do that good, did you?" Dominique asked. "You kept on saying she was so stupid."

"Well, she is!" Clara said. "She got the River Troll, which is the easiest one. And she took eighteen minutes! It shouldn't take that long just to get a club."

Dominique shrugged. "I guess so." They had arrived at the stands on the opposite side of the school, facing the forest. There was a wide clearing with no trees, but around were many different types of trees, with all kinds of foliage. Rosencrantz was lucky he would have so many places to hide.

She and Clara walked up to the top of the stands so they could have the best view and be furthest away from the troll. When everyone was seated, Fournier stood up again and went to the side to commentate. "Is everyone seated?" he asked. They all nodded. "Good. Now the champion can enter." Rosencrantz walked into the middle of the clearing. "And the timer will begin."

Unlike Caron, Rosencrantz looked much more confident. "Lumos." He raised his now lighted wand and walked into the dark trees, looking around for the troll. This time, it was much easier for the champion to see the troll, since there was no river that the troll could hide in. There were only so many places that a ten-foot-troll could hide in a forest.

There was a big shadow that was on the ground. Rosencrantz saw it and followed the shadow to where it began. He walked and saw two giant feet. Rosencrantz ran up to them and stepped on them, hard. The troll roared and saw the human. It began following Rosencrantz, evidently desperate for some human flesh.

Rosencrantz tried to lure the troll into the clearing. The troll followed, and went into the clearing. The Forest Troll was eleven-feet tall, even taller than the River Troll. It had pale green skin, and straggly hair all over its body. Dominique shuddered.

The champion waited for the troll to completely enter the clearing. When that happened, Rosencrantz launched himself onto the troll.

"Amazing!" Fournier said. "Our champion has begun using physical force to try to stun the troll. Is this going to work? Will a six-foot human be able to punch a troll almost twice his height into surrendering its club?"

Rosencrantz was still repeatedly punching the troll's stomach. The troll didn't seem hurt, it just seemed irritated. It kept on walking backwards, trying to shake Rosencrantz off. Finally, the troll succeeded, and Rosencrantz fell off. However, he managed to grab the club as he fell off. The troll took one look at his hand and seemed to realize that his club had been stolen. It shrugged, and walked away.

"Will you look at that?" Fournier announced. "Our second champion has gotten the club in less than ten minutes! Eight minutes, to be exact! What a marvelous display of strength!"

"That was weird," Dominique said.

"That was so cool!" Clara exclaimed. "I can't believe Rosencrantz just tackled a troll. It was so funny!"

"I wonder what the judges are going to think," Dominique said. "He didn't really display magical ability… It was more just courage and strength."

"They're probably going to give him really high points," Clara said. "He didn't get hurt, and he got the club really quickly too."

"We'll just have to wait and see," Dominique replied.

In no time, the judges were ready. Professor Bernhardt gave him a nine, Madame Maxime an eight, Professor McGonagall an eight, Monsieur Moreau a nine, and Monsieur Fournier an nine. "So our second champion has 43 points!"

"I knew he'd do well," Clara said.

"Do you want a Durmstrang champion to win?" Dominique laughed. "I thought you'd support your own school! I guess Rosencrantz did okay, but I know James is going to do better."

* * *

><p>James was hyperventilating in the tent. He had heard Fournier's comments, and they sounded terrifying. He remembered Rose's advice of using the Impediment spell, but since Caron had just used it, he didn't want to do the same thing as her and be accused of copying. He tried to think of what other spells to use, but before he could, he was called to go outside and face the troll.<p>

Nervously, James stepped outside onto the sand. It felt nice and cool below his feet. He looked up and saw the crowd clapping for him. James put on a confident smile and waved back. He saw all his cousins and friends, and that gave James a boost of hope.

"Ready, James?" Fournier asked.

He nodded. "I think so." James took out his wand from his pocket and held it at his side.

An extremely dirty man walked over. At Fournier's signal, he waved his wand, and a twelve-feet tall Mountain Troll appeared. "And the timer begins!" Fournier announced. The dirty man disapparated. Now it was all up to James.

The troll was bald and grey. It looked extremely bored, dragging a wooden club half its size on the ground. It walked toward James. He gulped, knowing from his research that trolls did not like magic. They were mainly irritated by humans, but when humans used magic on them, trolls could get mad. James planned to use magic only when he knew using it would succeed 100%.

All of a sudden, the troll ran headfirst at James at a startling speed. James jumped out of the way. The troll grunted, and ran at James again in the opposite direction. James avoided him again. James could hear the audience laughing, and Fournier's commentary.

"And our third champion seems to be simply dodging the troll, without any magic," Fournier said.

_Alright, if they want me to do something exciting_, James thought. He waited for the troll to run at him again, and at the last minute, he jumped to the side. But this time, instead of moving backwards to another direction, James ran between the troll's legs. The audience laughed. _At least all that Quidditch gave me some skill._

Now, James thought, it was time to get serious. Five minutes had passed already, and he had already gotten a small scratch by not running out of the way soon enough. He tried to think of what to do. When had he ever been taught how to stop a troll? He'd heard of trolls before hearing Moreau and Fournier talk about them. When, though?

And then it hit him. He remembered the day when he was little, when his father was telling him a story.

_"Please, Daddy!" James said. "One story?"_

_ "Oh, alright," Harry responded. "What do you want it to be about?"_

_ James thought for a while. "About you!"_

_ "About me?" Harry asked. "Well, I'll tell you a story, then. I was eleven years old. It was my first year of school at Hogwarts. And it was Halloween."_

_ "Halloween?" James asked._

_ "Halloween," Harry repeated. "And it was a special one because there was a troll in the school. We were all told to go to our dormitories while the teachers got rid of the troll. But I didn't. Ron and I went looking for Hermione because she had gone to the bathroom, and didn't know about the troll."_

_ "Then what?"_

_ "We went to the girls' bathroom and there was a troll swinging its club back and forth and threatening to kill Hermione. But Ron and I got there in time to stop the troll. We threw rocks at him and I even tried to climb onto the troll. But it was Ron who really did it. He said 'Wingardium Leviosa', the spell that makes things fly. And the troll's club flew out of his hand and hit him in the head."_

_ "Did he die?" asked James._

_ "No, he just got knocked out," Harry responded. "But Ron and I got awarded five points each for knocking out the troll."_

James smiled at the memory as he dodged the troll again. Of course. That was how he knew about trolls. The judges had said he wasn't allowed to use accio, but he could use the flying spell.

James jumped out of the troll's path one last time. Then he stepped back, pointed his wand straight at the troll's club, and shouted "Wingardium Leviosa!"

The wooden club flew out of the troll's hand and floated into the air. James held his wand tightly and moved it so that the club went sideways to hover above the troll's head. The troll looked up and saw the club. As if it knew what was going to happen next, the troll closed its eyes. James moved his wand sharply down and the club did the same, hitting the troll's head, and knocking it out.

The twelve-foot long beast was now on the ground. James ran over to grab the club, and held it in the air.

"James Potter from Hogwarts has gotten the club with a marvelous display of magic," Fournier remarked. He walked over to James and asked, "Are you hurt anywhere?"

"Just a few scratches," James replied. "Not much."

"See the nurse anyway, after you get your score," Fournier suggested. He went over to the judges and conferred with them.

"Now the judges have decided on their scores!" Fournier announced. James held his breath as he watched. Professor Bernhardt conjured up an eight. _Not bad. _Madame Maxime held up a nine. _Even better. _Professor McGonagall held up a nine too—_Yes! —_ Monsieur Moreau a six—_What?—_and Monsieur Fournier a nine—_Good_. "So our last champion has forty-one points! Now, lets hear it for all the three champions!" The crowd applauded.

James followed the nurse into the tent and waited while she applied some lotion to his wounds. He sighed, thankful that it was all over, and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>Is anyone surprised that James isn't in first place? Note that he's only in second place because Moreau gave him a six. <strong>

**Time for more thinking and writing…**


	13. Chapter 12

**I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

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><p>"Lily, have you seen Rose anywhere?" Scorpius opened the door of the compartment to find Lily and some of her friends sitting together and talking. It was three hours after the end of the First Task, and the first through third years were going back to Hogwarts.<p>

Lily shook her head. "No, sorry. Is she missing?"

"Sort of," Scorpius replied. "We're just looking for which compartment she's in so we can sit with her. Thanks anyway."

Scorpius closed the compartment door and looked around. He had checked all the compartments, but hadn't found Rose anywhere. "Where could she be?" he wondered.

"Maybe she's still in Beauxbatons," Albus suggested.

"She couldn't be," Scorpius said. "I swear she was right behind us when we left the school."

"Maybe she forgot something," Albus said. "It wouldn't hurt to check."

Scorpius nodded. "Okay. But we'd better hurry. The train's leaving in ten minutes."

The two friends left their bags in an empty compartment and ran off the train back into Beauxbatons Academy. They went into the main hall, to look for Rose. She wasn't there. They walked around the hallways, calling her name. She didn't answer.

"We'll never find her!" Albus exclaimed. "Maybe we should just go back. She's probably on the train now."

"I don't think so," Scorpius said. "Rose isn't one to get lost. She's smart; the only reason she wouldn't be on the train is if she purposely wished to not be there."

"What do you mean?" Albus asked.

"You know how she always said she would do anything to stay at Beauxbatons?" Scorpius said. "What if she actually did stay at Beauxbatons?"

"Oh no," Albus said. "I think you're right. Rose is really stubborn. She probably hid somewhere in the castle so she could stay here. But we have less than ten minutes to find her and convince her to leave. We'll never do that!"

Scorpius looked around for anyone to help. Then he saw Fred and Oliver, two of Albus' brother's best friends. "Al, why don't you ask them to help us?"

Albus nodded. He ran up to them. "Fred, we need your help. Desperately. We think Rose is hiding somewhere in the castle so she doesn't have to return to Hogwarts. But our train is leaving in five minutes, and we can't find her to convince her to go back to Hogwarts!"

"Why don't you just stay here?" Fred suggested. Albus glared at him. "I was just joking. I'm not sure what you can do… Do you have any idea where in the castle she might be?"

Albus shook his head.

Fred and Oliver exchanged glances. "Do you think we should show it to him?" Fred asked his friend. Oliver shrugged. "Alright." Fred pulled something out of his pocket. "Albus, promise me not to tell anyone about this. Nobody. Not James, not Rose, no one. Promise?"

"Promise."

"You need to promise too," Fred said, pointing to Scorpius.

"I promise."

"Good." Fred unrolled the parchment and tapped it with his wand, saying 'I solemnly swear that I am up to some good.' The parchment began sprouting ink. Soon a map of Beauxbatons Academy appeared.

"Whoa!" Albus exclaimed. "What is that?"

"It's a map of Beauxbatons Academy that shows where all the students are," Fred replied. "Oliver and I spent ages making it. It's really precious. Anyway, do you see Rose on here?"

Albus grabbed the map and examined it closely. Scorpius looked at it too. They looked around furiously for the dot with Rose's name. "There it is!" Scorpius said, pointing to a solitary dot on the fifth floor next to a statue of a bird. He grabbed the parchment, handed it to Fred with a thanks, and ran toward the fifth floor.

By the time they got there, both boys were out of breath. "Where – is – she?" Albus puffed. "Which – room?"

Scorpius pointed toward the left. "Down there." He walked down the hall, looking for the statue. "She should be in a room nearby."

"This one?" Albus pointed to the door immediately to the left of the statue. It was labeled 'Girls Lavatory.'

"Yes," Scorpius said excitedly. "Now I have an excuse to go into the girls' bathroom!"

"You're so weird," Albus said. "What if there's someone in there besides Rose, using the toilet?"

"There isn't anyone," Scorpius said. "There wasn't anyone else on the map in there, and there wasn't anyone close by either."

"Oh." Now all Albus's excuses were out. "Fine then. You go first."

Scorpius opened the door and carefully stepped in. Everything was pink. There was nobody at the sinks. The stalls were all vacant except for one. "All clear," he said to Albus.

The two boys walked up to the one used stall. Scorpius looked underneath the door to make sure that it was Rose. For some reason, he didn't see any feet. _She must be standing on the toilet_, Scorpius thought to himself.

"Ready?" he whispered to Albus. He nodded. "On the count of three, lets knock. One, two, three." The two boys pounded the door.

The door of the stall flew open. "Stop it—oh, it's you," Rose said. "How'd you find me?"

"It's a long story," Scorpius replied. "What are you doing here? The train is going to leave in two minutes!"

"I'm not going back to Hogwarts," Rose said, stepping out of the stall and walking toward the sinks. "I can't. All the fun is here, at Beauxbatons."

"I'm not blaming you for wanting to stay here," Scorpius said. "I kind of want to stay too. But I don't understand. Why didn't you tell us you were planning to hide? We're your friends. We would have understood."

Rose sighed. "I don't know… I thought you two wouldn't want to stay at Beauxbatons, and I couldn't bear the thought of hearing you pester me about going back to Hogwarts every day. So are you two going back to Hogwarts, then?"

Scorpius shook his head. "No way. I'll stay here with you. I just hope we don't get in too much trouble."

"We can just make up some excuses," Rose said. "Don't worry. But what about Quidditch? You're the seeker." She said that with a bit of contempt. Rose still hadn't forgotten how she could have been the seeker instead.

Scorpius shrugged. "They'll find someone else."

"Are you two sure?" Albus asked. "We should go back to Hogwarts to continue our lessons and everything. I don't think Professor McGonagall will be very happy."

"Come on, Al," Rose said. "She won't care. Besides, I think your decision has already been made for you." She pointed to the window on the side of the bathroom.

"No!" Albus ran toward the window only to see the Hogwarts Express moving away from Beauxbatons.

"It'll be all right," Rose said.

Scorpius nodded in agreement. "Now, why do I feel like something's wrong?"

"You just broke the rules by staying at Beauxbatons?" Rose suggested.

"No…" Scorpius said. "Something else." He looked at Albus. "We left our bags on the train."

"That is not good," Albus said. "I just realized we don't have any clothes either. All we have is what's on us right now."

Rose laughed. "Too bad. I packed all my clothes yesterday when we left."

"Oh, be quiet," Albus said. "I'm stuck here at Beauxbatons, my bag is on the Hogwarts Express, and I don't have any clothes or supplies with me. What could be worse?"

* * *

><p>Fred and Oliver walked toward the Hospital Wing to visit James. Even though he had barely been hurt, Madame Nourse had insisted that all the champions stay in the Hospital Wing for a few hours to rest.<p>

The Hospital Wing was filled with two rows of beds. They were all empty except for three, which held each of the champions. Fred and Oliver walked over to James' bed, which was right next to the entrance of the Hospital Wing.

"Hi, James," Fred said, walking up toward James. "How are you—whoa, where'd you get all this?" He pointed to the huge stack of candy on the side of his bed.

"Oh, people kept on dropping in on me and giving me candy as a congratulations," James said. "Do you want some? I can't possibly eat it all."

"Of course!" Fred said. He opened a box of Chocolate Frogs and began unwrapping a frog. "Do you want the card?" He asked James. "It's your dad."

"No thanks," James replied. "I have five of him."

Fred shrugged. He threw the card in the trash. "I don't collect those cards, so why keep it?"

"You just threw my dad in the trash," James said. "That's very disrespectful."

Before the two could begin arguing, Oliver intervened. "So, did they tell you what the second task is going to be?"

James shook his head. "After the task, Monsieur Fournier told us that the second task would take place on February 26th. But he didn't tell us what it was going to be."

"Are you going to get to cheat again?" Fred asked. "This time, make sure you tell me about it."

"I'm not cheating, Fred," James replied. "Let me finish. Fournier said that in the club that we got from the troll, there's a clue about the Second Task. If I manage to open that club, find the clue, and understand what it means, I should know exactly what the Second Task is. I've tried opening the club, but it's quite solid." He reached under his bed and pulled out the club. "Do you want to try?"

Oliver took the club and examined it. It was five feet long, and made out of wood. "Are you supposed to break it in half to find the clue? There aren't any openings in the club."

"I don't know," James said. "Well, I still have three months to work this out, so no rush. I think I'll relax for a while before thinking about this."

"Good idea," Fred said. "I love relaxing."

James gave him a deadly stare. "So, how were the other two champions? I didn't get to see them."

"Rosencrantz's was so stupid," Oliver answered, lowering his voice so the other champions couldn't hear. "I don't know how he got more points than you."

"Yeah, about that," Fred said. "Why did Moreau give you six points? You deserved at least an eight. Then you would have been tied with Rosencrantz for first."

"I was thinking about that," James said. "Moreau just doesn't like me. I don't know why, but he doesn't."

"I think its because he still suspects that you spied on him in the secret room," Oliver replied. "You cheated."

"But he has no proof!" James insisted. "Why would he think it's me?"

"Well, he did see all your cousins walking around on the sixth floor," Oliver pointed out.

"Well, besides that," James said. "Fournier saw that at didn't care. I think Moreau is a little suspicious. There's something weird about him that I don't like."

"Yeah, there is," Oliver said. "Oh, and there's something we forgot to tell you. I think you'll be interested to know. As we were walking down here, we met your brother and one of his friends, Scorpius, I think."

"What happened?" James asked.

Fred sniggered. "I think our cousin, Rose, has planned a scheme to somehow stay at Beauxbatons, instead of returning to Hogwarts."

* * *

><p>"Explain yourselves," Professor McGonagall said. Rose, Albus, and Scorpius all looked down at the floor and didn't respond. "Why are the three of you still here?"<p>

The three exchanged glances. The two boys nodded at Rose, telling her to talk. "Well, Professor," Rose began. "We all went onto the train and got into a compartment. Then, I realized that I had left my bag in the castle. So we all went back to get it, but by the time we got outside the train had left already."

"Is that so?" Professor McGonagall asked suspiciously. "So if I ask some students on the train they'll confirm you're story."

"Yes, Professor" Rose said. Scorpius and Albus exchanged glances. They had asked all the students if they knew where Rose was, and had mentioned nothing about a missing bag.

"Do you know what I think?" Professor McGonagall said. "I think you just lied to me. I'll give you one chance to tell me the truth, or your punishment will be even worse than it currently is."

Rose sighed. "Alright, Professor. But, please, don't blame Albus or Scorpius. It's not their fault. You see, I kind of wanted to stay here so I could be with my cousins and get to go to classes here at Beauxbatons. So when the train was about to leave, I ran back to the castle and hid in a room. Al and Scorpius went to the train and planned to leave, but they ran back here to find me. And when they finally found me, the train had left."

"I would never had expected this from you, Weasley," McGonagall said. "I'm very disappointed of you. I will have to send a letter home to your parents about what you did. But, we will have to let you stay here, as we cannot afford to get the whole train here just for the three of you. As for you two," McGonagall turned to Albus and Scorpius. "I guess you'll have to stay here, even if you don't want to. I'll have to write home to your parents as well, but I will explain that it was an accident."

"Thank you, Professor," Scorpius said. Albus nodded in agreement.

Well, I'll have to talk to Madame Maxime and explain that you two need to join the third years for classes," Professor McGonagall said. "As for now, you may go to dinner. And for your lodgings, please join the fourth year Gryffindors of your gender in a tent. I will get an extra bed in there. I think everything's set. If you have any questions, just ask me."

"Thank you, Professor," Rose said.

"Um, Professor McGonagall?" Albus asked nervously. "Me and Scorpius accidentally left our bags on the train, and, er, we don't have any clothes or supplies with us. They're all at Hogwarts."

"We can arrange something to get all your necessities here," McGonagall replied.

"Thank you so much," Albus said. Professor McGonagall nodded and left the room.

"That wasn't too bad, was it?" Scorpius asked Al. "Your parents won't be mad."

"Mine will," Rose said. "My mom is going to be so mad."

"Well, you chose to stay," Albus said. "Well, I guess we should just go to dinner and make the best of it."

* * *

><p><strong>Review! You know what's coming soon... the Yule Ball. <strong>


	14. Chapter 13

**So I know this chapter is really short. Sorry. I promise the next chapter will be good!**

* * *

><p>Lily was mad. She had arrived back at Hogwarts and gone to dinner as usual. Afterwards, she had stayed in the Gryffindor common room for a while and played Exploding Snap with her friends, talking about the First Task. Lily had looked for her brother and her cousin but didn't see them anywhere. She had suspected they were out wandering the halls, but when they didn't appear the next morning either, she was really suspicious.<p>

Then the owl had arrived at breakfast. She had opened it, expecting it to be a weekly letter from her Dad, since the owl was clearly his. But instead, it was all about Albus and Rose, and how they were such bad students because they stayed at Beauxbatons. Then there was a long paragraph about how Lily should never do the same thing as them, and how she had to be the better daughter.

The rest of the morning, Lily hadn't said a word to anyone. She went to all her classes looking down and not paying much attention to the teachers. At lunch she sat alone, away from all her friends.

"Lily?" Lily looked up to see Layla Longbottom looking at her worryingly. "Do you want to sit with us?"

Lily shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

Layla looked around and then sat down next to Lily. "What's wrong? You were all cheerful yesterday and this morning, but then after breakfast, you got so down."

"It's nothing," Lily replied. "Don't worry."

"It's not nothing," Layla said. "You're usually an extremely happy and lively person. Only something really depressing would make you like this." When Lily didn't reply, Layla continued. "We're all your friends. We all care about you. It stinks to see you this sad. If you tell us, we can help."

Lily looked up at her friend. "Okay. I know it sounds like something that I shouldn't be sad over, but my dad sent a letter to me this morning. Read it."

Lily took out the letter and gave it to Layla. She read it slowly, absorbing everything it said.

"Oh, this is nothing," Layla said. "Your dad isn't really punishing you. He just wants to make sure that you don't start breaking the rules too like your brother."

"That's not the part that I'm sad about," Lily answered. "I can't believe Al would desert me. He and Rose just… just left! And now I'm the only one left here. Rose, Albus, James, Lucy, Molly, Dominique, Roxanne, Fred… They all are gone!"

"We're still here, Lily," Layla said calmly. "We're all your friends. And Hugo's still here too. He's a Weasley. Lily, wherever you go, you'll always be surrounded by someone who loves you. And that's all that matters."

"Thank you, Layla," Lily replied. "You're a good friend."

"Are you sure you don't want to join us?" Layla asked again.

"Alright," Lily said. She took her plate and moved to sit with Olivia, Elena, and Layla. Layla was right. She didn't need to care about Albus or Rose. She had better friends than them.

* * *

><p>Rose, Albus, and Scorpius nervously entered their first class of the day—Charms. Professor McGonagall had talked to Madame Maxime, and she had arranged it so that the three could have classes with the rest of the third-year Beauxbatons. Rose was still a bit nervous, and wasn't sure what the other students would think. The rest of the Weasley cousins had been quite shocked when they realized that she was staying, and many of them thought she had been quite irresponsible.<p>

That morning, they went to the classroom early so they could be the first ones there. The teacher, Professeur Dubois, gave them seats in the last row, because everywhere else was full. He then told them what they were going to be working on, and to listen to him along with the rest of the class.

Then the students entered. There were about fifteen of them, girls and boys, of various nationalities. Many of them gave the three weird looks, and went onto their own seats. Two girls looked at Rose and sat next to her, while some boys sat next to Albus and Scorpius.

"Welcome, class," Professeur Dubois said. "As you can see, we have three new students joining us. They will be in all your classes, as they will be staying at Beauxbatons for the remainder of the Triwizard Tournament.

"Now, today we will be working on Cheering Charms…"

The girl next to Rose turned and said, "Why are you here?"

Rose didn't want to reveal the truth, so she lied and said, "Professor McGonagall wanted some third-years to stay so that they could observe the ways the teachers taught."

"Oh." The girl didn't look so suspicious anymore, but she looked a little doubtful. "Well, I'm Sage. This is Louisa." She pointed to the girl next to her.

"Hi. I'm Rose," Rose introduced herself. "This is Albus, my cousin, and Scorpius."

"Is he your cousin too?" Louisa asked curiously.

"No," Rose said. "He's a friend."

"Oh," Louisa said. "We should probably be taking notes now. Proffeseur Dubois is really strict, and he doesn't like it when we talk."

After a few minutes of notes, Dubois told them to get into pairs and practice Cheering Charms. Louisa and Sage became partners, Albus and another boy became partners, so Rose and Scorpius were left to practice.

"Do you want to go first?" Rose asked.

Scorpius shrugged. "You're better, so you should probably go first."

Rose preformed the spell. Scorpius began smiling happily, and even danced a little. "Okay… I might have made it too strong. Your turn."

Scorpius did it, and nothing happened to Rose. "Try again." Then, when he tried a second time, Rose started laughing so hard that her stomach hurt.

The rest of the class, they watched other students try it and fail. By the end, Rose felt that she had made friends with most of the third-years—though it might just have been because everyone was in such a good mood.

* * *

><p>The end of November flew by, and soon it was December. Beauxbatons Castle had become decorated with beautiful ice sculptures, and the sand outside had been replaced with snow.<p>

On December 4th, the three third years were in the middle of their last class of the day—Potions. The teacher, Proffeseur Gerard, was a great teacher, and Rose enjoyed making potions a lot in his class.

That day, they were making Shrinking Solutions. Rose was almost done with her potion. She added some leech juice and waited for the potion to turn green. Proffeseur Gerard was walking around, and saw Rose's potion. "Marvelous!" he exclaimed. "The first one done, and a perfect potion, too! Do you have anything I could test it with?"

Rose shook her head. "I'll bring my owl, then," Gerard replied. He went to his desk and opened the cage on top that contained a fluffy owl. "Well, give it a drop, then."

"Are you sure?" Rose asked cautiously. "What if it doesn't work?"

"I know a good potion when I see one," Gerard said. "It'll be fine."

Rose nervously took a drop of the potion and dropped it into the owl's mouth. It screeched, but then it grew quiet. Then it shrunk to become a small, baby owl.

"Aw, it's adorable!" Sage commented, who was working next to Rose.

"Do you know how to brew an antidote?" Proffeseur Gerard asked Rose. "It's advanced, but I think you know how to do it, don't you?"

"I could try," Rose replied.

"Well, since nobody else is done, why don't you?"

"Okay." She began opening her book and finding antidotes to each of the ingredients.

"Wow, Rose," Sage said. "You're really good at Potions."

"She's good at everything!" Scorpius said jealously. "She's the best in our year."

Rose turned red. "I'm not the best in Defense against the Dark Arts. Albus is."

"But you're the best at every other subject."

Rose didn't reply. It was true, but she didn't want to boast.

After ten minutes, Gerard announced that he had just found out that they were ending class half an hour early, so they could go to dinner and hear Madame Maxime's special announcement. They would be allowed to finish their potions tomorrow.

Rose followed the rest of the third years toward the Hall. Most of the students were already there. Rose got a seat next to Albus and Sage, and waited for everyone to settle down. Why would Madame Maxime want to make an announcement?

"It's probably something about the Triwizard Tournament," Sage said. "That's all anybody talks about today."

"Maybe."

They waited for everyone to quiet down. The third years waited quietly and patiently, while the older ones, especially James, Fred, and Oliver, down the table, kept on talking. They didn't stop until Madame Maxime stood up.

"As many of you may know," Madame Maxime began. "During every Triwizard Tournament, there is a special event that occurs on Christmas Evening. The Yule Ball."

"Nice!" Fred said. "I already know who I'm going to ask."

"Who, Moaning Myrtle?" James suggested.

"Shut up."

"The Yule Ball," Madame Maxime continued. "Is a formal dance that is held to increase magical cooperation between the three schools. All students fourth year or up are invited to attend the dance, with or without a partner. A younger student may come only if an older student invites them. And all the champions must have partners, as they are opening the dance."

"Ha, pressure, James," Fred joked. "You're going to have competition this year."

"Shut it, Fred," James said. He turned to Oliver. "So, any idea about who you might invite this year?"

"I have an idea," Oliver replied. "But I don't know if she'll say yes."

"Who is it?" Fred asked eagerly.

"I'll tell you when tell me who you're going to ask," Oliver said.

"I'm going to ask Katie Moore," Fred replied simply, without any shame.

"What?" James asked astonishingly. "I thought you two were just friends, not… friends, friends."

"Way to be descriptive," Fred snickered. "Well, I'll ask her if we can go just as friends."

"That's not what you really want, though, is it?"

"Nope," Fred said. "She is so hot. Anyway, what about you, Oliver?"

"I'll tell you next week."

"What? You said you'd tell after I told."

"You didn't say anything about telling right now," Oliver pointed out. "We still have three weeks before the Yule Ball. There's no rush."

In fact, Oliver was right. There was no rush to ask people to the ball with three weeks remaining, but all the girls seemed to be asking people out left and right. By the eleventh, it seemed like most of the sixth and seventh year boys already had dates.

"We really should do something," James said. They were sitting in the center of the makeshift Gryffindor common room. During the fall, the students had simply sat on the sand and talked with their friends, but when it started to snow, a few students had gone to McGonagall and begged for something else. She had finally agreed to put a tent that resembled the Gryffindor common room, with comfy sofas and a roaring fire. "We don't want to be the last ones."

"Why don't you go first?" Fred suggested.

"Why don't you?"

"Alright, I will. Wish me luck." Fred winked at his friends and walked across the common room toward where Katie and her friends were talking. "Hey, Katie, can I have a word?" he asked.

"Sure." She got up and they moved toward two empty armchairs.

James and Oliver watched wide-eyed as Fred and Katie whispered to each other. On the other side of the tent, Katie's friends were staring in surprise. Fred whispered something, Katie looked surprised. Then Fred whispered something else quickly. Katie shrugged, then nodded. Then they both got up and returned to their separate places.

"She said yes!" Fred exclaimed.

"Nice," Oliver approved. "Well, now it's only the two of us."

James sighed. "Wonderful. Well, at least we still have two more weeks."

* * *

><p><strong>I know this chapter was kind of bad, and short, but the next one will be great. I can't update tomorrow (I'm always busy on Saturdays) but I'll update on Sunday!<br>Thanks for reviewing (especially the really long review I got)! :)**


	15. Chapter 14

**Thank you, everyone who reviewed! Some answers to comments/questions in reviews:  
><strong>

**Chawk1993: I went back and fixed most of the mistakes from the earlier chapters that you pointed out. Thank you for finding the mistakes! I couldn't make James younger, though, because then the whole story would be ruined! But I tried to fix everything else. **

**L-U-N-A-654: It would be funny for Oliver to ask Rose out, but it just didn't fit. I like your idea of Oliver asking one of James' cousins, so I put that idea in this chapter (a little) so I could write James' reaction. Thanks! You'll find out what I meant when you read the chapter.**

**SaraHunterOfArtemis: I was the same way when I was little! I was upset when no letter came when I turned eleven… Thank you for reviewing every chapter! Random things are always fun to read!**

* * *

><p>Those two weeks flew by. The teachers taught less and less each week as their students got more distracted by the coming holidays. It seemed like every student was planning to stay at Beauxbatons for the winter; nobody was going home when they could stay and attend a ball.<p>

For Dominique, those three two were torture. It was traditional for a guy to ask a girl to attend the ball, so she waited for someone to ask her. Only in the last few days would she take desperate measures and ask someone. But nobody asked her. She watched as Jonathan White asked Roxanne, and a Beauxbatons boy asked Clara. But nobody asked her! At least Molly didn't have a date either. She wasn't the only one.

Dominique walked to Charms class alone. The rest of her friends had gone ahead, but she had stayed behind to use the bathroom. There were only four days until Christmas, and she still didn't have a date.

"Um, Dominique?" She turned to see Michael Wright behind her. Michael was in her year, Gryffindor, and he was really nice, but the two of them never really talked to each other. Dominique wondered what he wanted.

"Oh, hi," she replied.

"Er, I was wondering, if, um…" Michael began nervously. "If you'd like to go to the Yule Ball with me."

"Of course," Dominique replied. "That would be nice."

"Thanks," Michael said. He ran off in the opposite direction.

_That was weird_, Dominique thought, but she walked happily to Charms. Even though Michael wasn't the ideal person to go to the Ball with, she was glad she had someone to go with.

* * *

><p>Lucy, Lorcan, Lysander, and Louis were talking in the Gryffindor common room about the topic that everyone seemed to be talking about lately. "So, did you three get anyone to go to the Ball with you?" Louis asked.<p>

"Nope," Lucy said. Lysander shook his head too. Lorcan didn't say anything.

"You got somebody?" Lucy asked in disbelief.

"What, you thought nobody likes me?" Lorcan asked in mock disappointment.

"I was kidding…" Lucy said.

"No problem," Lorcan replied. "Besides, we're just going as friends."

"Who?" Louis asked eagerly. He was going with Francine Beauvais. He had asked her the day after the Yule Ball was announced, and she had agreed.

"Emily Baker," Lorcan replied. "But just as friends."

"Really?" Louis said doubtingly. "Well, Lysander and Lucy, you two should really get a move on. There's only three more days."

"You two don't have anyone to go with?" Rose asked. She, Albus, and Scorpius had just entered the tent and had overheard the L's conversation. Rose and Lucy, being a year apart and both being friends with a lot of guys, got along well. "Why don't you two go with each other?"

Lucy and Lysander looked at each other, then looked away. "Maybe," Lucy said.

"Why not?" Rose asked. She sat down on the couch next to Lucy, and Scorpius sat next to Rose. Albus sat across them. "You two are perfect for each other."

Lysander muttered something about not wanting to ruin a friendship. Louis laughed but changed the subject. "So are you two going together, then?" He motioned to Rose and Scorpius.

"We would, if we're allowed to," Rose said gloomily. "But, Madame Maxime said that only fourth years and up could go to the Ball. We can't go unless an older person invites us."

"That's too bad," Lucy said. "Wait… I have an idea."

"What?"

"Do you two want to go together? And do you really want to go to the Ball?"

Rose nodded. "Well, we're the only third years, and we're good friends, so I guess we'll go together. To answer your second question, I don't want to be the only one here. Everyone from Hogwarts is going to be at the Ball. It'll be so lonely here."

"Yeah," Scorpius agreed. "I normally don't like dancing, but at least you get to have fun."

"So why don't you pretend you're going with an older student, but when you actually get inside, leave them?" Lucy said. "For example, you, Rose, could go with Lysander, and Scorpius could go with me, but once you get inside you could switch dates. Nobody would ever know."

"That's a good idea," Rose said. "Do you two mind?"

Lysander shrugged. "Not really."

"Thank you so much!" Rose said, and hugged her cousin. "So it's agreed that you and Lysander are going together?"

Lucy and Lysander exchanged looks. "Sure," Lysander said nonchalantly, but Rose could tell that he looked happy. She tried not to snort.

"Okay," Lucy said. "So everything's sorted out. Now, if only we could find someone for Albus."

"I'd go with him, if I wasn't a guy and his cousin," Louis said. Lucy and Rose laughed.

"I don't need to go," Albus said quickly. "I'll just stay here."

"Don't be silly, Al," Rose said. "You can't possibly stay here all alone by yourself."

"We'll find somebody for you, don't worry," Lucy said. "You won't really be going with her. You'll just pretend, and once you get inside, you can get rid of her."

"Wow, that's nice," Albus said sarcastically. "But then what am I going to do there? I have nobody to talk to, since everyone has a date."

"There'll be food, and you can talk to Scorpius and I," Rose said. "It'll be fun."

"Fine," Albus said. "But who am I supposed to 'go' with?"

"I'll find somebody," Lucy said. "By tomorrow night, you'll definitely have somebody to go with."

* * *

><p>"You realize we have exactly two days to get dates?" James said worryingly. "It's the 23rd. I bet everyone's taken already." The two were eating dinner alone; Fred had gotten a detention for talking back to the teacher.<p>

"Oh no," Oliver said. "Why didn't I ask her last week or the week before? Grr, now she'll probably have someone else to go with."

"Who?"

"Promise you won't tell Fred?"

"Why?" James asked. "He'll find out anyway."

"Promise."

"Alright, I promise."

"Fine." Oliver closed his eyes. "Dominique."

"WHAT?" James roared. "You like my cousin? You can't! She's like my little sister."

"James, calm down," Oliver said, as people around them started staring. "I was joking. I just wanted to see your reaction. I don't really like Dominique."

"Okay, good," James said. "That's a relief. So who do you like, then? For real."

Oliver sighed. "Okay. Maeve Robinson."

"Her?" James asked. "The one from Ravenclaw?"

Oliver nodded. "Yep."

"Are you two friends?" James asked. Maeve Robinson was in their year, but he had never really talked to her. He knew that she was really smart, though. "Have you ever talked to each other?"

"A few times," Oliver said. "Once we were doing our homework together in the library, once I dropped my quill and she picked it up for me…"

"Okay, that's all I need to know," James said. "Well, go ask her."

"I can't!" Oliver said. "What if she already has a date? I've seen her around the hallways… she's always surrounded by other people. What am I supposed to do?"

"Just ask her for a private word," James suggested.

"Why don't you do it then, if it's so easy?" Oliver asked.

"I would, but I don't have anyone I want to ask!" James said.

"Seriously?" Oliver looked so surprised. "You're sixteen, and you don't like anyone? That's not normal."

"I don't not like anyone," James said defensively.

"So who do you like?"

"Ah, Oliver, stop it," James replied. "You know how annoying it is."

"I'm just trying to help."

James sighed. "She's from Beauxbatons, though. I'm pretty sure she'll have been asked by one of her friends from the same school."

"Yeah, but you're James," Oliver said. "_The_ Champion. Who wouldn't want to go with you?"

James nodded. "You're right. Okay. After dinner, we'll both go ask someone, and we won't be allowed to rest until we have someone to go with. Deal?"

"Deal."

* * *

><p>James nervously walked up to the group of Beauxbatons girls. They were still eating dinner. "Er, Sylvie, can I ask you something?"<p>

"Sure." Sylvie looked away from her food and at James expectantly.

"Um, er…" James saw that all her friends were staring at James like he was a ghost.

Sylvie turned and said something to her friends in French. They rolled their eyes but turned away. "So, what is it?"

"Er…" James tried to think of a casual approach. "So, are you planning on going to the Yule Ball?"

"Yes."

"Do you have someone to go with already?"

"Yes."

"Oh, okay," James said. "I was just wondering."

Without looking back, he speedwalked away from Sylvie until he left the dining room. His approach did not work well at all. Well, he understood why Sylvie already had someone to go with. She was really pretty, but James didn't really know her that well. He only had a few conversations with her. He guessed it would have been better for somebody she knew for six years to go with her instead.

_Looks aren't everything, anyway,_ James thought. _Well, at least it wasn't too embarrassing._ He headed back toward the Gryffindor common room, forgetting that he had to have a date to return.

"Did you get one?" James opened the flap of the tent only to be ambushed by Oliver.

"A what?"

"A date!" Oliver repeated. "Did you, did you, did you?"

"No."

"Really?" Oliver asked. "That's sad. Maeve said yes right away! I am so happy right now!"

"Mate, it's just a date," James said. "Nothing much."

"Yeah, but it's with her." Oliver said. "I think I'm too happy right now." He sank onto a couch and sat, daydreaming.

"Okay…" James left and joined his cousins—Dominique, Roxanne, Molly—and some of their friends. He wasn't in the mood to be around someone so happy.

"Hi, James," Dominique said. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing much," he replied. "I just got rejected by someone, that's all."

"That stinks," Dominique said sympathetically. "I know how you feel."

"You've been rejected too?"

"Well, nobody asked me until yesterday," she replied. "At least I finally have somebody to go with. So, you don't have anyone?"

James shook his head. "It's sad, isn't it? And I'm a champion."

"Who did you ask?"

James sighed. "Some girl from Beauxbatons. I shouldn't have asked her… she doesn't even know me at all. She probably has better friends from her own school."

"Why don't you just ask somebody in your own year from Hogwarts?" Dominique suggested. "I bet they're all dying to go with you. There's a lot of really nice girls in your year."

"That's true," James said. "But I bet all of them already have dates."

"No, not all of them," Dominique said. "Many girls still haven't been asked. And you know, we won't refuse. It's better to have anyone for a date than nobody at all. And you know, James, it doesn't matter if you end up with someone ugly. It's what's on the inside that counts."

"Thanks, Dom," James replied. He got up and crossed the Gryffindor 'common room' and went to Alice Reid, a Gryffindor in James' year who was always really nice to him.

"Hey, Alice?" James asked her. She was sitting with another one of her friends, studying together. "Do you want to go to the Ball with me? Just as friends."

"Sure, of course," she replied. "That would be nice."

"Thanks," James answered. He returned to Dominique, who, surprisingly, had been watching him ask Alice. "Thanks a lot. That was good advice."

"No problem," Dominique responded. "Anytime you need girl advice, just ask me."

James laughed and nodded.

* * *

><p>In the end, it was Albus who found himself a way to get into the Yule Ball. He had been talking to a few third year girls, and the idea of falsely going with an older student leaked out. By the morning before the Yule Ball, almost all the third years were going to the Yule Ball. Albus was going with Sage, who had gotten her sister to 'go' with Albus.<p>

That morning, most of the students were playing in the snow outside the castle, throwing snowballs at each other or building forts. By noontime, many of the girls had left to go change into their dress robes, while the boys kept on playing.

Rose entered her tent, which she shared with Lucy and the other fourth years, and got out her dress robes, which were sky blue to match her eyes. She glanced at them and sighed. She didn't need six hours to put them on, but since all the girls were in their tents, she stayed.

Lucy entered the tent shortly after Rose had. "Excited for the ball?" she asked Rose.

She shrugged. "A little. It's not like it's going to be that exciting. I doubt Scorpius and I are going to be dancing, anyway."

"Lysander's probably going to be eating the whole time," Lucy said. "Well, at least we get to have some fun."

"I just wish we didn't have to wear all this fancy stuff." Rose motioned to her dress robes. "I hate all this!"

Lucy laughed. "I'm not the only one… But we have to wear them." Lucy took out her dress robes, a dark, earthy green color, and held it up. "Well, at least it looks nice."

Rose and Lucy changed into their dress robes and realized that they still had five hours to spare before the Ball would begin. They decided to play some games or study for a while, and then, purely because of boredom, applied some makeup.

A few tents away, Dominique was wearing a beautiful lilac dress and making sure she looked the best she possibly could look. Roxanne, Molly, and Charlotte were doing the same. Molly hadn't found anyone to go to the Ball with, but she still decided to go just for fun.

"So how do you think I look?" Dominique came out of the bathroom and the rest of the girls gasped.

"Amazing," Charlotte said.

"Beautiful," Roxanne commented.

"Wow," was all Molly could say.

"Thanks," Dominique replied. "I guess spending all that time in the bathroom paid off."

"I'll never be able to look as pretty as you do," Roxanne said. "Your hair is so beautiful. Mine is just plain and red."

"No, you look fine," Dominique said. "I'm sure Jonathan will be stunned." She referred to Roxanne's date.

"Thanks."

It was one hour before the Ball would begin, so all the guys actually entered their tents and started changing. Scorpius was a bit nervous about how he would look. He combed his hair back several times, and applied some gel so it was all slick.

"I think you put too much in," Albus commented.

"Really? Is it that bad?" Scorpius quickly took a towel and rubbed some off. "Better?"

Albus shrugged. "I don't know."

Nearby, Fred, James, and Oliver were getting ready too. Fred was examining himself in the mirror. "Do you think Katie will think I look okay?"

"She'll have a nightmare when she sees you," James replied. "You look hideous."

"No, seriously, how do I look?" he directed the question to Oliver.

He shrugged. "The same you usually do."

While everyone finished getting ready, the Hall was being remodeled for the Yule Ball. Finally, a few minutes before the Yule Ball would begin, the students were meeting each other outside the Hall.

"Wow," Lysander said as he and Scorpius met Lucy and Rose. "You look amazing." He directed that at Lucy.

Lucy smiled. "Thank you. But don't forget, you're supposed to be going with Rose."

He nodded, and went to stand next to Rose. They waited for the clock to strike seven, and the Ball to begin.

Finally, the clock struck seven. The doors opened, and the students began entering.


	16. Chapter 15

**So I guess James could be in sixth year, but it doesn't really matter how old he is. Anyway, here's chapter 15!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>James met up with Alice in the entrance hall. "Hi," he said. Alice was wearing beautiful lilac-colored dress robes, with a matching flower in her hair. She smiled at him.<p>

"Ready?" she asked. James nodded. He was wearing plain black dress robes. The two entered the hall, which had drastically changed. Instead of all the random tables, there were now two long tables on either side of the hall, and an empty space in the middle of the room. At the front was another table, that stretched from the left to the right of the room.

"Wow, it changed a lot," James said.

Alice nodded. "So what are we supposed to do?"

"Eat, I guess," James said. He walked toward one of the two long tables on either side of the hall, but Professor McGonagall stopped him.

"No, Potter, all the champions are eating at the front of the room," she said, pointing toward the table at the front. "Along with their partners, of course."

James sighed, but walked toward the front. He sat in the middle of the table, next to Alice, so he could get a good view of everyone. On the left table, Fred and Katie were sitting next to each other at the back of the room, the farthest away from everyone. James couldn't see what they were doing. Oliver and Maeve were talking politely nearby.

Finally, everyone entered the hall and the doors closed. James saw the other champions and their partners. Caron was with a Beauxbatons boy that looked extremely pleased to have her as a date. Rosencrantz was with some Durmstrang girl. They were chatting to each other in some foreign language.

Madame Maxime stood up. "Welcome to the Yule Ball! Before the actually dancing will begin, there is dinner first. We have changed our usual way of eating in order to make today very special. As you can notice, there are menus in front of you. Just open the menu and find something you'd like to eat, then say the name, and that food will appear on your plate."

"Cool," James said to himself.

"I hope everyone enjoys this method," Madame Maxime said. "Now, I will sit down, and you can enjoy your meal."

James took a look at his menu and realized it was arranged into appetizers, entrées, desserts, and drinks. He looked at the entrées section and realized it was split into even more sub-categories: French, British, and Scandanavian. Smiling, he went right to dessert section and ordered some treacle tart. He had inherited that love from his father.

"Starting with dessert?" James looked up and saw that Monsieur Fournier happened to be sitting right in front of him.

James gave a half-hearted laugh. "Well, if you start with entrées, you'll be full by the time it comes to the desserts. And that's the best part."

"Well said," Fournier commented. "And very true. But, as an adult, it is my job to make sure that you do eat some vegetables."

"Okay." James ordered some salad. As he ate it, he watched the other champions talking to their dates. Both pairs were still talking in a foreign language, so he couldn't understand.

"So, Alice," James tried to make conversation. "How do you like this new way of eating?"

"It's really smart, actually," she replied. "Then there's much less waste, and people can get exactly what they want. And there's more room on the table too."

James nodded. "But it would be too much of a hassle to have this every day," he said.

As he continued to eat and talk, he noticed that Moreau, who was at the end of the table, was staring at James with an expression of distaste. Moreau was sitting across from the Durmstrang Headmaster, and they were talking with each other. For a second, Moreau and James made eye contact; then James turned away, and looked at his food. What was it with Moreau?

When everyone was finally done, their plates disappeared. "Everyone, please stand up!" Madame Maxime said. They all did so. Then the tables and the chairs disappeared, and the whole hall was changed again a ballroom setting. The middle was empty, and designed as a dance area, while the sides held refreshments and tables for resting. There were already instruments set up, and some people who were evidently a band went toward them so they could play.

James watched Rosencrantz and Caron stand up and walk toward the empty area. With a groan, James remembered that the champions were supposed to be the first ones dancing, so they could open the area for everyone. James didn't despise dancing—he despised dancing in front of everyone.

"Come on!" Alice said as she pulled him toward the dance area. James didn't mean to resist, but he couldn't help it. He really wished he could disappear.

The band started playing and the other champions around him started dancing. James could hear Fred laughing in the crowd, so, purely to stop him from laughing, he took hold of Alice's hand and started dancing with her. It wasn't too bad; as long as he could pretend they were the only ones there, it was nice.

When James and Alice had been dancing for about a minute, the other students started joining them on the dance area. James sighed in relief. He snorted as he spotted Fred energetically dance with Katie—they were going so fast and crazily that people around them had stepped away.

As the dance floor got more and more full, James realized that he was actually having fun. After all the stress of exams, the First Task, and having to ask someone out to the ball, he felt like he was flying.

* * *

><p>As soon as they had successfully entered the room—several professors had been making sure that there were no unaccompanied third years—Lucy and Scorpius separated, Lucy going to Lysander and Scorpius to Rose. There was no need to pretend anymore. It had been pretty awkward for Lucy to be with Scorpius.<p>

Lucy talked to Lysander as if they were just friends, the way it had always been before. It would have been too awkward otherwise. As Lucy had predicted, Lysander didn't want to dance; she had to beg him to dance just for one song. The rest of the time he sat there, watching other people and eating food.

Lucy watched her friends dancing and having fun. Louis and Francine had disappeared a while ago, to where, Lucy didn't know. Lorcan was still dancing with Emily. As she watched them, Lucy sighed.

"Are you bored?" Lysander asked, noticing Lucy sigh. "Do you want to do something else?"

"Like what?" Lucy replied. "It's a Ball. All there is to do is dance, talk, or eat."

"Why don't we just leave?" Lysander suggested. "This Ball is really boring. Do you know what we should do?"

"What?"  
>"Well, all the teachers and most of the students are here," Lysander said. "So that means the rest of the building is empty—except for first and second years, and they don't really matter."<p>

"What are you suggesting?"

"Why don't we go explore the building?" Lysander said. "We could go toward the sixth floor and find that room that James didn't let us go in before."

"Sure," Lucy replied. They had nothing better to do, anyway. They walked toward the entrance of the Hall and quickly slipped out, before anyone else noticed. Lucy and Lysander grabbed a small pebble from outside, then ran up six flights of stairs toward the sixth floor.

"So, it should be around here, right?" Lysander asked, walking toward the blank area of wall between rooms 603 and 605. "Do you want to walk past and see if it works?"

"Okay." Lucy took out the pebble from her pocket and held it in her hands as she walked back and forth several times. _Please work, please work, _she thought.

"It worked!" Lysander exclaimed. The door had appeared again. "Ready to go in?"

"What do you think is in there?" Lucy wondered.

"Nothing scary," Lysander said. "If James and Oliver managed to go in and come out alive, it shouldn't be too bad."

Lucy nodded. She pulled the door open and entered. The room was—unknown to Lucy and Lysander—the same as when James and Oliver had entered. There was still the bamboo furniture, and the paintings on the wall.

"Wow, this is so cool," Lysander said, plopping himself onto a chair. "I never knew there were all these secret rooms up here! This is amazing!"

"Yeah," Lucy said. She closed the door behind her as she walked around, examinining everything. "I wonder why Monsieurs Fournier and Moreau would be here, though."

Lysander shrugged. "Maybe they wanted somewhere private to work."

"It's not exactly private anymore, is it?" Lucy said. "We kind of invaded it."

"Well, it's their own fault. They should have found somewhere more secret," Lysander said.

Lucy didn't respond. She had been walking around the room, inspecting it, when she noticed something on a table. "Lysander, did you see this?" she asked in a low voice.

"See what?" he asked. He walked over and saw the piece of paper Lucy was looking at. "Why, what does it say?"

"I don't know," Lucy replied. "It's in French. Look." She pushed the paper into Lysander's hand.

Lysander looked at it. "What does this mean?"

"I don't know, since it's all in French. But I don't think this letter is a good thing. Did you see the Post Script? It's in English."

Lysander looked at the bottom of the paper. He gasped. "Do you think this is real?"

"I'm pretty sure it is," Lucy replied grimly. "But I wish it was fake."

* * *

><p>Scorpius and Rose sat next to each other on a bench, watching the others dance. "So, Rose, do you regret staying at Beauxbatons?" Scorpius asked.<p>

"No way," Rose answered. "I love it here. This castle is so beautiful, with all the ice sculptures, and the teachers are really nice. The students are friendly too. If we stayed at Hogwarts, we wouldn't get to experience all this." She motioned toward the people dancing, and the whole Hall.

Scorpius nodded. "I'm glad that Albus and I decided to get off the train and search for you. If we didn't, you would have been here all alone."

Rose smiled. "Yeah. You came toward the bathroom and started pounding on the door. I always wondered, though, how did you find me so fast? I could have been anywhere in the castle. How did you know it was me in the stall?"

"Ahh," Scorpius said. "That is a good question that I cannot answer."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Rose asked.

"I can't tell you how Albus and I found you so quickly," Scorpius responded. "We promised not to tell."

"Why did you need to promise someone something when you were searching for me?" Rose wondered.

"Well, we needed help, of course, to find you in the castle," Scorpius said. "So some people helped us, and we had to promise not to tell you how they helped us."

"Who helped you?"

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell you who helped us," Scorpius replied. "It was Fred and Oliver. We were walking and we happened to run into them."

"So how did they help you?" Rose asked again. When Scorpius looked hesitant, Rose said, "I promise I won't tell anyone."

Scorpius paused, and then opened his mouth and said, "Fine, I'll tell you. But you realize I just broke my promise to Fred and Oliver. If they ever find out, they'll never trust me again."

"They won't find out," Rose insisted. "I won't tell anyone."

"Good. Well, Fred, Oliver, and James have this… map. It shows all the rooms in Beauxbatons, but it also has a special function. Everyone who's in the building shows up on the map. For example, when Albus and I went to find you, there was a dot with your name in the girls' bathroom. So we found you."

Rose's eyes were wide. "Really? That map exists?"

Scorpius nodded. "Yep. But you can't go looking for it, since you're not supposed to know."

"That's advanced magic," Rose said to herself. "I wonder how they made it."

"They must have spent a lot of time wandering the halls," Scorpius said. "That's all I know."

Rose laughed. "That's true."

The two sat there without talking, reflecting on the past. Rose broke the silence. "Scorpius?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you put gel in your hair?" Rose reached up a hand and felt Scorpius' hair. It was all smooth but oily. Scorpius shivered as he felt her touch his hair.

"Why, did I put too much?" He put his hand up to feel his hair and accidentally brushed Rose's hand. Rose and Scorpius both pulled their hands apart right after they touched. There was an awkward silence.

"No, you didn't put too much," Rose replied to Scorpius' question. "It's fine. I'm just not used to you wearing gel in your hair."

Scorpius blushed. "Well, it's a special occasion, so I thought…" He trailed off.

"Don't worry, Scorpius, the gel's nice," Rose said. "It makes you look older and more professional."

"That's what I was going for when I put in on," Scorpius replied. "I just thought it was bad because that's what Albus said."

"Al is smart when it comes to schoolwork, but when it comes to fashion or hair, don't trust him."

Scorpius nodded. "I wonder where Albus is."

"Probably dancing with Sage."

"I don't see him over there." Scorpius looked around the dance area and didn't see Albus anywhere.

"Strange." Out of all Rose's relatives, the only ones she saw dancing were James and Dominique. "I wonder where everyone else is."

"They're probably all hiding back there," Scorpius pointed backwards, where there was a small garden full of bushes and other plants. "I bet some of them are snogging."

"Yeah," Rose said. "Roxanne definitely is. So is Fred."

"And Louis. He'd do anything to snog someone. I bet Lucy and Lysander are too."

"No way."

"Do you want to bet?" Scorpius asked.

"I do. 5 sickles that they won't snog tonight."

"You're that sure about it?"

"I know Lucy," Rose said. "She told me all about Lysander. I just know that they're not going to snog."

"Well, I still disagree," Scorpius said. "So it's a deal? Five sickles?"

"Deal."

* * *

><p>Dominique and Michael were still dancing. When the current song finished, Dominique was out of breath. "I can't dance anymore," Dominique said. "I'm so out of breath. Are you?"<p>

"I was out of breath three songs ago," Michael replied. "But I didn't mind."

"Oh, sorry," Dominique said. "I didn't know you were tired."

"It's nothing," Michael said. "So, do you want to get something to drink?"

"Sure," Dominique replied.

"I'll get some butterbeer for us," Michael said. "You can rest, if you want."

"Oh, thanks." Dominique watched Michael walk toward the refreshments. She looked around for any family or friends that she could talk to. She didn't see any of her friends, but she saw Rose and Scorpius talking together on a bench. For some reason, she didn't think she should disturb them, so she sat down on an empty bench and waited.

"Here," Michael was holding two mugs full of butterbeer and was holding one out to Dominique.

"Oh, thanks." She took the butterbeer and took a long sip. It felt so good. "So, Michael, how do you like Beauxbatons? Do you think the classes are better?"

"They're about the same," Michael replied. "I just don't know what we'll do when it's time for OWLs. The students here don't take examinations until sixth year. We'll probably have to return to Hogwarts."

"At least this year isn't that busy," Dominique said. "My cousins all said that fifth year is so busy. It hasn't been too busy for us, here."

Michael nodded and drank some more butterbeer. "It's really nice here, isn't it?"  
>"What, here?"<p>

"Yeah." Michael stood up. "Do you want to take a walk?"  
>"Where?"<p>

"Just over there." He pointed toward the small garden with a path going through it.

"Oh, sure." Dominique got up and they walked together silently through the garden. Michael was right. It was really nice here, in Beauxbatons.


	17. Chapter 16

**I'm so sorry for updating two hours later than usual! I went to watch a movie and it was raining so hard and then there was a power outage so I couldn't update at the usual time. Anyway, thanks for reviewing and here's the chapter! I hope it's not too unrealistic.**

* * *

><p>Lysander read the PS again and shivered. It was really mysterious.<p>

_PS: Keep an eye on James. We can't afford to lose another one._

"I have a really bad feeling about this," Lucy said. "We should go. This room is really creepy."

"Should we take the letter?" Lysander asked. He was still clutching it. "We can get someone to translate it for us."

"No. If we do, the judges are going to know we were here."

"But we should copy it," Lysander said. "Do you have any parchment with you? A quill?"

"No," Lucy replied. "I have some in my tent outside… But it'll take too long to get it."

"Just run," Lysander said. "Go. I'll wait here. Who knows what this means?"

"Are you sure?" Lucy asked.

"Just go." Lysander insisted. Lucy nodded and took off.

Lysander waited in the room, looking around and examining everything. He looked at the clock. It was 8:54 pm, almost 9. He hoped Lucy would be back soon.

The clock was now one minute to nine, and Lucy still wasn't back. A bit worried, Lysander opened the door and looked outside. He held the door as he looked up and down the hall. All of a sudden, the door closed on its own and Lysander was shoved out of the room. When he turned around, the door had disappeared. _Well, I'll have to wait for Lucy to get back, since she has the stone._

Finally, Lucy returned with a quill, ink, and parchment. "Why are you waiting outside?" she asked.

"The door shoved me out," Lysander replied. "I was holding it open, looking for you, when it closed at pushed me here."

"Thank you, door," Lucy said. "You've managed to do something I've always wanted to do before. Shove Lysander."

"Just open the door, Lucy," Lysander said. "Then we can put the letter back where we found it and leave."

"Okay." Lucy walked past the door several times with the pebble in her hands. When she stopped, the wall was still blank. "Maybe I did something wrong…" She walked past again. No door.

"This is not good," Lysander said. "I still have the letter!" He pulled it out of his pocket and showed Lucy. "If the judges find out…"

"We are so dead," Lucy said. "How do we get the door to open?"

"I have no idea!" Lysander said. "So what can we do?"

"Let's go ask James," Lucy said. "I bet he knows everything about the door. Besides, his name is on the letter."

"Okay," Lysander agreed. "Let's go then. I just hope James knows what to do."

* * *

><p>James had finally stopped dancing and was taking a break with Alice when Lucy and Lysander appeared, out of breath, in front of him.<p>

"James!" Lucy gasped. "We – need – you – to help."

"Why?"

"It's important," Lysander said. "It's about the room."

James understood immediately. "Alice, do you mind if I leave for a few minutes? My cousins need something."

"Sure, no problem," Alice said.

"Thanks." James got up and followed Lucy and Lysander out of the Hall toward the stairs. "What is it?"

"Well, we were really bored and decided to explore the building," Lucy began. "So we went to the sixth floor and entered the room you and Oliver entered."

James shook his head. "What did the room look like?"

"It had bamboo furniture, and looked like it belonged in Asia," Lucy answered. "Anyway, we were resting and found this letter."

"It was all in French, except the PS, which was in English," Lysander continued. "Here, do you want to see?"

"You took the letter out of the room?" James shouted. "Why would you do that? Now Moreau's going to think I went there and stole it!"

"We didn't plan to take it," Lucy defended. "I went to my tent to get some parchment so I could copy the letter and get somebody to translate it later. However, when I returned, Lysander said the door pushed him out. He just happened to be holding the letter. And I tried walking past with the stone, but the door didn't appear."

"Do you know what time it is?" James asked. They had reached the sixth floor.

"I think it's almost 9:15," Lysander answered. "I saw the clock in the room before, and it was almost 9."

"That makes sense," James said. "The room is only accessible at 6-7 am, or in the evenings at 8-9 pm."

"Really?" Lucy asked. "So the only way to put the letter back is to go there tomorrow in the morning?"

James nodded. "I'd suggest you go there right away, so the judges don't find out. Can I see the letter?"

Lysander gave it to him. "It's addressed to Moreau," he said. "His name is at the top. But it doesn't say who sent it anywhere."

"Read the post script," Lucy said urgently.

"_PS: Keep an eye on James. We can't afford to lose another one. _What is that supposed to mean?" James asked. "At least now I know why Moreau is always following me. That's why I see him a lot when I'm going to lessons. And tonight he was always staring at me."

"He was always looking at you?" Lucy asked. "So what if he saw you leave the hall?"

"Then that means he's probably following me right now," James said. "Oh, damn. If Moreau finds me near that room, he's going to kill me. We'd better go." He ran toward the closest stairs and ran down, only to run right into Moreau.

"What are you doing here?" Moreau asked. "You should be at the Yule Ball right now."

"We were, er, exploring the building," Lucy said quickly. "We're going back right now."

"Really?" Moreau asked. "Is that why all three of you are here?" He directed the question at James.

"Yes," he replied. "I got a little bored of dancing, and I wanted some space up here."

"What are you holding?" Moreau asked, pointing to James' hand.

James gave a mental groan. He was still holding the letter addressed to Moreau. "Just some homework," he replied. "Not much."

Monsieur Moreau looked at James suspiciously. "Well, Potter, make sure that you don't come toward the sixth floor again. There are no classrooms that you need to be in on this floor. If I find you, or any of your little friends here again, I will make sure that you are disqualified from the Triwizard Tournament."

James nodded. "Fine, then, if that's what you want." He walked down the stairs past Moreau.

"Good, Potter. Now don't tell anyone about this meeting, alright? Not any of your friends or relatives. If you do, I will find out, and you will be in trouble."

Lucy, Lysander, and James quickly ran toward the Hall. "So what are we supposed to do?" Lysander asked, worried. "We have his letter!"

"Can I have it?" James asked. "I'll keep it. I'm not letting you go back up there. There is no way I can be disqualified. Besides, Moreau won't know that I have it. Maybe he would think he misplaced it."

"Moreau's not that stupid," Lucy said. "He suspects you. He saw that you had the letter."

"But he has no proof," James insisted. "If he catches me going back up there with this letter, he'll know it's me for certain."

"Whatever you say," Lysander replied. "Are you going to get someone to translate it?"

James nodded. "I'm just going to the library and look up all these words in the French dictionary. It's too risky to let someone else know."

"Why don't you just ask Dominique or Louis?" Lucy suggested. "They're pretty fluent in French. You can't translate conjugated verbs in a dictionary."

"I guess I might ask Dominique," James said. "I just don't want to get too many people involved."

"Make sure to tell us what the letter says when you get it translated," Lysander said as he handed it over.

"Fine, I will," James said. "I hope it tells me everything about Moreau, and why he's being so weird."

He watched as Lucy and Lysander went to some bench and sat down together, and talked on and on about something. James wished his life wasn't so complicated. The two short hours with Alice were like a dream. After, he realized that his life was full of troubles. The Triwizard Tournament, the trouble with Moreau… He wished he could be someone else.

* * *

><p>The day after the Yule Ball everyone woke up really late. There were no classes that day, so everyone slept in, considering many students didn't go to bed until 3 am the night before. Dominique was planning to sleep until noon, but she was woken up by James at 9:30.<p>

"What is it?" she asked grumpily as James entered her tent and tapped her on the shoulder. "I'm tired."

"Sorry, Dom, but I really need your help," James said. "It's important. Please?"

"Fine," Dominique said. "But you owe me one."

"Okay," James said. "When you're ready, meet me in the common room."

Dominique groggily got dressed and walked toward the common room. It was nearly empty, except for James, Oliver, and Fred. Fred was snoring loudly on the couch.

"Hello," Dominique said awkwardly and sat down on an armchair next to James. "Why do you need my help?"

"I need you to translate something," James said. "It's in French."

"You woke me up this early just so I could translate something?" Dominique asked incredulously.

"It's not that early," James said. "It's already 9:30."

"Then why is Fred snoring?" Dominique asked.

James kicked Fred in the stomach. "Oi! Stop pretending you're asleep!"

Fred opened one eye. "I am asleep."

"No you're not, you're awake. So please stop snoring."

Fred muttered something under his breath but sat up. "James, you work way too hard. There was no need to wake us up this early."

Privately, Dominique agreed, but she didn't say anything. "So, where's the thing you need me to translate?"

"Here." James got a piece of paper out of his bag and handed it to Dominique. "You're going to think it's a joke, but it's not, okay? Lucy and Lysander found this somewhere, and it's really important. But you can't tell anyone. That's why I woke you up this early, because I don't want anyone to overhear. Can I trust you with this?"

"I need to see the letter first," Dominique said. "But if it's as serious as you said, I won't tell anyone."

"Thanks. Here, you can write the letter in English here." James took out a clean piece of parchment and handed it to Dominique, along with a quill and ink.

Dominique nodded and looked at the letter. Her mother had taught her French when she was little, but she had forgotten some of it. She could speak enough French to pass living in France, but she didn't know all the advanced words. She looked at the letter and had to translate it slowly. It had been a while since she needed French.

She wrote the following paragraph on the clean sheet of parchment:

_Dear Gustav Moreau,_

_ I hope your job has not been too difficult so far. You know how it is with teenagers—they are very unpredictable. _

_ I am not your enemy. I may seem quite evil right now, but I assure you that what I'm trying to do will achieve the greater good, and benefit us all in the end. _

_ Do not let this letter fall into the hands of another person. It is very important._

_ From,_

_ The creator of all of them…_

_ PS: Keep an eye on James. We can't afford to lose another one of them._

Dominique stared at the letter again, trying to comprehend what it meant. "What is this?" she asked James. "Where in the world did you get it?"

"Somewhere," James replied. "It's a secret."

Dominique sighed. "Look, I translated this for you, so you owe me one. So if you tell me where you got this from and everything related to it, you won't owe me anything else."

"Fine. But don't tell anyone." James told Dominique everything he knew.

"Wow," Dominique said, reflecting on what she told you. "This is deep. What do you think is going on?"

"No clue," James said. "All I know is that this makes Moreau even more suspicious. But there's someone behind it too. It looks like there's someone ordering Moreau around. And there's something else… 'another one of them'. What is that supposed to mean?"

Dominique shrugged. "I wonder… Well, James, I think you should tell your parents about this. They'll figure out what it means. They're adults."

"I can't…" James said. "Moreau said he would see every letter I sent to my parents. He'll find some way to read my mail."

"Well, then, I suggest you just forget about it for now," Dominique said. "It's just going to make you worry more. Focus on your studies and the second task."

James opened his mouth to argue, but Oliver intervened. "She's right, you know. You're not going to figure out any more from Moreau's letter then you know now. Just forget about it. When it's Easter Break, just go home to your parents and tell them then. Then you'll be all fine. Besides, you should work on the second task."

James nodded. "I guess so."

"Well, I'm going back to bed," Dominique said. "Thanks for waking me up so early, James."

"No problem. I'll do it tomorrow too, if you want."

Dominique made a face and left the common room tent to return to her own tent. She wondered what James could possibly be getting himself into. She took her mind off it, and quickly fell asleep again.

* * *

><p><strong>Any predictions about what the letter means? I have a general idea about what's going to happen, but I'm making the story up as I go. So I might use any really good predictions!<strong>


	18. Chapter 17

**A/N: I loved reading all your guesses about what the letter might mean. You're going to be really surprised when you find out what the letter actually means, since none of the reviews were even close. But one thing is true: there's somebody evil in the Triwizard Tournament! It's fun writing evil people... So enjoy this chapter! **

* * *

><p>By the evening of Boxing Day, most of the students were finally awake enough to concentrate, but most of them didn't. Lucy, Lorcan, Lysander, and Louis were acting very lazy, sitting on the couch and talking about their previous night.<p>

All of a sudden, Rose and Scorpius appeared. "Lucy?" Rose asked.

"Oh, hi, Rose," Lucy replied. "How are you?"

"Tired," she replied. "Anyway, Scorpius and I made a bet last night that regards you and Lysander."

"About us?" Lysander asked. "What?"

"I bet ten sickles that you and Lucy would snog," Scorpius said. "So, did you?"

Lucy and Lysander exchanged glances. "Well, we were, er, quite busy last night, so we didn't," Lysander responded. "And even if we weren't, we wouldn't have snogged. We're just friends."

"Ha!" Rose shouted, triumphant. "Ten sickles, please."

Scorpius looked stunned. "How could you be busy last night? There wasn't anything to do."

"It's a long story," Lysander said as Rose and Scorpius walked away. "But why in the world would they bet that we would snog? I mean, what's the possibility of that happening?"

"I actually thought that you two might have had a possibility of doing it," Lorcan said thoughtfully. "But since you two were busy…"

Lucy and Lysander exchanged another glance. They hadn't told anyone else about the letter they had found last night. "Speaking of last night…" Lucy said thoughtfully. "We have to see James."

"Why?" asked Lorcan.

Lucy shrugged. "About something." She and Lysander looked around the tent and spotted James and his friends at the far corner.

"Did you find out what the letter meant?" Lucy asked James. James, Fred, and Oliver were playing Exploding Snap. James looked up from his game, and one of his cards went up in flames.

"Sorry," Lucy said.

"It's fine," James replied. "It was going to explode any minute day. So, what did you want to ask?"

"Did you translate the letter?" Lucy asked again.

"Oh yeah, we did," he said. "It doesn't make any sense, though, but if you really want to see it…"

"We really do want to see it," Lucy said.

"I have it in here." James got out a piece of paper from his bag and gave it to Lucy. "Dominique translated it for us, but we didn't tell her how we got it or anything like that."

Lucy nodded, and looked at the letter with Lysander. "What is this supposed to mean?"

"No clue," James replied. "We tried analyzing it the whole afternoon, but we didn't get anything out of it."

Lucy shook her head in astonishment. "What could this possibly be?"

"I don't know… it just confirms my suspicions about Moreau. I'm just going to wait till Easter Break when I return home, and I'll ask my parents. They'll know what to do."

"Good idea," Lucy said. "I'll watch out for Moreau, though. I've been seeing him a lot lately, for some reason. I haven't seen Fournier at all."

"He's following me," James said. "According to his letter, he was forced to. He must have followed you too because he knows you were with me."

"Well, you'd better start working on the second task," Lucy said. "Did you get a start on it at all?"

James shook his head. "I will soon, though."

* * *

><p>Taking Oliver, Lucy, and Dominique's suggestions, James decided to start working on finding out what the second task would be. The Christmas break was the only time when James wouldn't have homework or be busy, so he decided to use it to his advantage.<p>

On the evening of the 27th, James, Oliver, and Fred gathered in their own tent. The other members of their tent were in the common room. James had the club and was ready to open it.

"So how do you plan on opening it?" Oliver wondered. Since they were his two best friends, James confided to them in all his plans and strategies for the tasks.

"I think using Diffindo should do the job," James replied. "The club will definitely break and whatever's in there will come out. If it breaks in the process, I'll just repair it."

Oliver nodded. "That should work. Ready to do it?"

"I think so." He placed the club on the middle of the floor and pointed his wand to it. "Diffindo."

The club split into many pieces of wood. Evidently it was hollow, because all the pieces of wood were very thin. James crouched on the floor and separated the wood into two piles until he could find the object in the middle, which had been sticking out. He grabbed it, and examined it.

It was a piece of parchment that had been rolled up into a scroll. James untied the string, which was around it and unrolled the parchment. It was blank. He turned it over to the other side. It was blank too.

"Can I see?" Oliver asked. James handed it over to him, and he examined it.

"Why would they put a blank piece of parchment in the club?" Fred wondered.

"Maybe it's invisible ink!" Oliver said. He took out his wand and said, "Aparecium," tapping the paper with his wand. Nothing happened.

"So it's not invisible ink," James said. "Then what else could it be?"

"I know Roxanne has a Revealer," Fred said. "It's a magical eraser that can reveal hidden messages. I'll ask her if I can borrow it." He ran off.

Oliver looked at the parchment again, looking confused. "I wonder what you're supposed to have to do to find out what it says…"

James shrugged. "I sent my dad a letter before. It's somewhere in here…" He got up and searched his bag, and then under his bed. He finally found it under his pillow. "Why would I put my dad's letter under my pillow?"

"People only put things that are important to them under their pillows," Oliver said. "So you must think it's important, then."

"A letter from my father? Strange. Anyway, here it is… _After the first task, we were told to examine the golden egg we had gotten from the dragon. It was supposed to be a clue. But whenever I opened it, the egg would just wail really loudly and irritably. But, someone else (because of the mad Death Eater's help) told me to put the egg under water. So I did. And under water, there was a voice coming from the egg that sang a poem about the second task. After thinking about it for a while, I understood what it meant. We would have to go under water in the lake for an hour to rescue something that they took." _James looked up."Well, you know what the task was. But my dad had to put the egg under water to understand what it said."

"Do you think we have to put this in water too, then?" Oliver asked, holding the parchment up.

"I doubt it," James replied. "It doesn't fit. Paper would dissolve in water."

"Did you find anything else about the Second Task?" Oliver asked. "You said for the first one, it was usually fighting a creature. Is there anything that the second task usually is?"

"Yeah, Rose sent me a letter about it but I didn't get a chance to read it yet," James said. "I think it's also under my pillow."

"What's under your pillow?" Fred asked as he entered the tent. "A picture of me?"

"Shut up, Fred," James said. "Why would I keep a picture of you under my pillow? That's just wrong."

"You kept a letter from your dad under your pillow," Oliver said.

"I thought you were on my side!" James said as Fred laughed.

Oliver shrugged. "Anyway, did you get the Revealer?"

"Yeah, Roxanne said I could borrow it," Fred replied. "So where's the paper?" Oliver put the parchment on the floor and Fred took the Revealer and erased, hard, on one spot of the parchment. Nothing appeared.

"Try somewhere else," James said, abandoning his search for Rose's letter to watch Fred erase.

"I was going to, Jamesie," Fred said. "Don't nag." He moved the eraser to another spot and then turned the paper around and continued.

"Stop!" James shouted suddenly, as Fred erased on the other side of the parchment. "Is that ink?"

Fred stopped erasing and examined the paper. "I don't know… Let me try again." He went to the same spot and rubbed the Revealer again. Faint black lines appeared on the parchment, but as soon as Fred lifted the Revealer away, they disappeared.

"Are you sure your Revealer works properly?" James asked.

"I'm sure," replied Fred. "I don't think this parchment has Invisible Ink. It's something else."

"But what?" James asked himself.

"James, get the letter about the Second Task," Oliver commanded. "I think I have an idea…"

James obeyed and pulled the letter from under his pillow. "Okay. Here's what Rose wrote. _The Second task is generally very unpredictable, and the tasks vary from year to year. Yet there is one thing in common. They're all based on the four main elements: water, earth, fire, and air. For example, in the last Tournament the champions had to do the task in a lake, which is the element water. Previously, the task has been done in the air, in fire, on the earth… But there are many different variations, and because of this, the champions are given a clue about the task before the day of it arrives. The clue is usually an object that comes from the first task, but to find out what it means, the champion must do something to the object; that is, put it in the environment that the task is going to occur in. This sounds confusing, so let me give you an example. In 1995, the champions got a golden egg from the First Task. To find out the clue, they had to put the egg under water. And then the second task took place under water."_

"That makes sense!" Oliver exclaimed. "If there are four elements… then it can't be water, obviously, since the Revealer wasn't wet… it might be earth—no, it couldn't, or it wouldn't disappear—, it can't be air, it couldn't be fire… or could it?" Oliver paused, thinking to himself. "That's it!" he exclaimed. "It's fire!"

"Would you mind explaining your epiphany?" Fred asked. "James and I are clueless right now."

"You don't get it?" Oliver asked. "It's the friction coming from the eraser that gives the paper heat. Except it doesn't last long enough for all the words to be revealed. You need a stronger source of heat to actually see all the words."

"What?" Fred asked again. "Please explain in English. What's friction?"

Oliver remembered that the other two came from wizarding families, while he was a muggle-born. They wouldn't know what friction was. "Friction is a type of force that occurs when one object moves over another," he explained. "In simpler terms, it can generate heat."

"So you're saying that to read this parchment, we need to give it heat?" James asked.

Oliver nodded. "That's what I think."

"Let's try it, then," Fred suggested.

"Tomorrow," James said. "It's too late right now. Besides, if I really find out the clue I'll take a long time to decipher it."

"Alright," Fred said. "Tomorrow at noon?"

"Sure."

* * *

><p>Rose, Albus, and Scorpius were in the library, even though Rose was the only one who wanted to be there. Since it was the Christmas Holidays, the students didn't have class. Albus and Scorpius wanted to be outside throwing snowballs at each other, but Rose insisted that they go to the library and study.<p>

Rose was reading _Modern Magical History_ when Albus tapped her on the shoulder. "I'm hungry," he said. "Do you want to go to lunch? It's 12:30."

She agreed, and the three went down to lunch in the Hall. Rose was midway through her slice of pizza when Hediwg II came down and dropped a letter next to her plate. Rose stroked Hedwig as she opened the letter, obviously from her dad. She wondered why he sent it at this time, rather then the usual morning owl post.

Rose opened the letter. It was just his normal weekly letter, nothing strange or mysterious. She just wondered why he sent it later than usual. Rose replied with a quick 'hello', writing about how fun the Yule Ball was. She left out the fact that third-years weren't allowed to attend.

After eating, the three third-years decided to return to the common room to relax. However, when they stepped outside, they were greeted with an astonishing sight.

Tent 18, the sixth-year Gryffindor boys' tent, was in flames.

* * *

><p><strong>Cliffhangers are so fun to write!<strong>


	19. Chapter 18

**Thank you so much to everyone who put this story on their story alert, or favorites, or whoever reviewed it! Thank you so much!**

**Anyway, this chapter kind of jumps all over the place, so I hope I didn't rush it or make this chapter too unrealistic. And also, I'm really bad at poetry (especially rhyming ones) so I know the poem in this chapter isn't the best and contains a lot of half-rhymes. I hope it's okay and gets the point of the second task across, though. The same thing goes for Quidditch... I sort of rushed it. Well, I hope you enjoy this chapter!  
><strong>

* * *

><p>"What happened?" Professor McGonagall had evidently been informed of the fire, as she rushed over to the tent. James and Oliver were using the 'aguamenti' charm to try to decrease the fire, and McGonagall went to help them. With her assistance, the fire finally was destroyed.<p>

"Er…" James said. "It's about the second task."

"Nobody's listening except us," Professor McGonagall replied, looking around and shooting deadly glares at anyone who was in hearing distance. They all left, leaving James, Oliver, Fred, and Professor McGonagall alone.

"Well, I was trying to find out what the second task was," James responded. "We were given a piece of parchment that was supposed to tell us what the second task was. We'd have to manipulate it someway or another, of course, but in the end it would tell us the second task. So, I examined the parchment a bit and realized that the only way to see what it says is to apply heat to it."

"Heat and fire are two entirely different things," Professor McGonagall said. "Why would you use fire when you could just apply some warmth?"

"That's what we did, professor," James said. "I used my wand to make the parchment a bit warmer. The ink was supposed to show up at that point, but nothing happened. I tried again, just in case, and then the whole parchment went into flames. We tried stopping it with water, but it kept on spreading and spreading."

"So what happened to the parchment?" McGonagall inquired. "Is it gone?"

"No, professor," James replied. He brought out the parchment, which was not scorched at all, but had some writing on it. "It's perfectly fine, except for the words."

"Well, I won't punish you," Professor McGonagall said. "It's evidently not your fault that your tent went into flames. I just wonder why you would be given a magical parchment that requires you burn it to see the clue."

"I don't know why," James said. "You can always ask Monsieur Moreau or Fournier."

"Perhaps I will," Professor McGonagall said, striding away from the tent, which was now soaked with water.

James sighed and stared at the tent. "I hope all our belongings are okay."

"They'll be fine," Oliver said. "So what does it say on the parchment? I can't restrain my excitement any longer."

"Okay, here it is." James held the parchment so all three of them could see, and read softly aloud,

"_Within the mass of dark red fire  
>Lay thirty small and golden wires<br>We give you hints to help you scour  
>To find them all within the hour<br>First—although fire is grave  
>With magic, you could survive for days<br>Second—we allow you to go around  
>Both in the air or underground<br>Last—the wires are quite small  
>But they are the most important of all<br>Within the mass of dark red fire  
>Lies your fate, which may be dire<em>"

"Well, that's nice," Fred said. "Your fate is going to dire."

James looked up from the paper. "I think I sort of understand what this means."

"So the second task," Oliver began. "Is to get as many golden wires as possible from the fire?"

"I think so," James replied. "That's what this clue says, right?"

"Yeah," Oliver agreed. "And then it gives you three hints."

"They're not very helpful hints, are they?" Fred wondered. "They're really vague."

"That's the point of them," Oliver said. "They're meant to be vague so that you, as the person reading the clues, must interpret them. I think the clues are actually really helpful, if you study them hard."

"So how am I supposed to go through fire without getting burned?" James asked. "Do the hints say how?"

"They do, actually," Oliver said.

"How can you figure all this out, while James and I can't?" Fred asked.

"You need to read between the lines," Oliver responded.

"There's something between the lines?" Fred gasped. He leaned close to the parchment and looked. "There's nothing there. Just blank parchment."

"Never mind, Fred. It's a muggle saying. Anyway…" Oliver paused, thinking. "The first hint says that there is a spell that allows you to survive in fire. So you just have to find the spell and you'll be good."

"Yeah, but how am I supposed to find it?" James asked. "And even if I do, it might be too difficult for me to do."

"You still have two months before the second task," Oliver said. "That's why should start early. I bet you'll find something in two months."

"What about the second hint?" Fred asked. "In the air and underground?"

"I think that means the champion is allowed to fly above the flames instead of standing in them the whole time," Oliver explained. "That's perfect for you, James. You're the best Quidditch player in our whole school!"

James nodded. "I think this task is pretty straightforward. I just need something to enable me to survive going through fire for a short time, and then I need to pick up as many golden wires as possible. This doesn't look too hard."

* * *

><p>The end of December and the holidays quickly passed, and classes were resumed. For the fifth years, it turned out lessons got more and more in depth, and there was more homework assigned. Dominique was so busy that she barely had any free time, and had to go to bed at midnight every day.<p>

She and Michael began talking a lot together. Dominique realized that he was really smart, and was good at magic. He happened to also be a Prefect.

One night, there was a lighter load of homework than usual, and Dominique managed to finish it by 9 pm. Afterward, she, Michael, Charlotte, and Molly were talking a bit when Michael announced that he was going to bed. Dominique waved, and he left. She turned around to see Molly staring at her.

"What?" she asked.

"Why are you always with him?" Molly questioned. "Are you two going out?"

"No," Dominique said. "We're just friends. Is there something wrong with that?"

"What about us?" Molly demanded. "We're your friends too."

"I know that," Dominique replied. "You're both really good friends. What does it matter if Michael's my friend too?"

"But you're always with him!" Molly said. "You two… you're always talking to each other and you forget about us! You're always talking to that Beauxbatons girl too. What's her name, Clara? What about us? What about Charlotte? She's your best friend!"

"Leave me out of it," Charlotte said quietly.

"Am I not allowed to make new friends here?" Dominique was shouting now. "What about Roxanne? She's with one of her new friends too?"

"Well, they're going out!" Molly said. "And besides, Roxanne still talks to me every day."

"I do too!" She got up and glared at Molly. "Would you just mind your own business? I can make my own friends. I don't need your help."

"Fine then," Molly replied. "Have it your way. Abandon the ones who you've known for half your life to talk to people you barely knew for a few months. I don't care."

Dominique turned around and left the common room. She opened the flap of the tent and started running, toward where, she didn't know. She was so angry at Molly that she kept running until she ran right into Michael, who was about to enter his tent.

"What happened?" he asked, staring at Dominique. She was fuming and gasping for breath.

"Molly hates me," Dominique said. "She hates me! She hates me because I'm friends with you now!" Dominique shouted the words and then started crying. She wasn't mad anymore. Now she was just sad.

"It's okay," Michael said awkwardly. He was standing there, watching Dominique cry, and wasn't sure what to do. He decided to give her a hug, and Dominique responded by crying into his shoulder. Michael nervously patted her on the back. "It'll be okay," he said, over and over, unsure of what to do.

"I'm sorry," Dominique said after a while, and stood up. "It's not your fault."

"No, it's fine," Michael replied. "According to Molly, she said it was my fault. But you'll sort it out eventually."

Dominique nodded. "I guess so. She's the only one who really cares anyway. Sorry for crying into your shoulder."

"It's fine," Michael said. "Well, good night."

"Good night." Dominique watched her friend go into his tent, and she walked away. She felt a little better, but she was still angry at Molly.

* * *

><p>Back at Hogwarts, in the end of January, the second Quidditch match for Gryffindor was about to occur: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin. William Sterling, the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, had arranged practices every evening. When Scorpius had abandoned the team, Sterling had sent a letter to James asking him who the second-best seeker was. James replied saying that Rose was, but since she had abandoned the team too, the third-best was Flora Young, a small second-year.<p>

The day of the match, Lily nervously nibbled some toast for breakfast. The first Quidditch match, Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff, wasn't too bad—Gryffindor had won quickly and easily. This day, however, Gryffindor would be playing Slytherin. After the fall of You-Know-Who, Slytherin's had become less prejudiced, but they were still ambitious and prone to cheating.

Lily was quite nervous about playing them. Being one of the youngest players on the team, she was sure that she would get hit by a Bludger and get injured. She was not looking forward to that.

After breakfast, all the Quidditch players went toward the locker room to change. Lily's friends gave her some last minute 'good luck's, or 'I know you'll do great's, and they left to go watch in the stands.

When they all got into their Quidditch uniforms, Sterling led the players onto the field. Lily nervously clutched her Comet 300, a present for her eleventh birthday.

The Slytherins came onto the field too, from the opposite side. Lily gulped as she saw all of them. She was extremely glad that there were only first through third years playing; if a third year was that big, how big could a seventh year be?

The captains shook hands and everyone mounted their brooms. Lily looked into the stands and spotted all her friends cheering, and Professor Longbottom, the Gryffindor Professor, clapping. She felt a surge of determination. Madame Hooch released the balls, blew her whistle, and the players flew into the air.

"And the Quaffle is immediately taken by Beechcroft of Gryffindor, who flies toward the Slytherin posts," cried the commentator, Ravenclaw Richard Lloyd. "He doges a Bludger from Murphy, passes to Sterling, who catches it and heads toward the posts. Slytherin Keeper Bennet dives, misses, Gryffindor scores!"

Lily cheered with the rest of the team. The Quaffle was now in the hands of Slytherin Chaser Cox. Peele and Newton flew after him, and, from above, hit a Bludger at him. It hit Cox on the back, and he dropped the Quaffle. Lily raced under him and caught it. She flew toward the Slytherin posts, dodging Bludgers, and went toward the Slytherin Posts. She threw the Quaffle in hard, and the Keeper missed. Angered, Slytherin Beater Murphy hit a Bludger at Lily. She tried to dodge, but it hit her in the shoulder. Her shoulder burned with pain, but Lily ignored it and continued on flying.

Ten minutes later, Gryffindor was leading by seventy to forty. Young and Harvey, the Slytherin Seeker, were still circling above, looking for the Snitch. Lily scored another ten points, and the score became eighty-forty.

All of a sudden, Young dived, streaking toward a speck of gold that happened to be next to the Slytherin posts. The Gryffindor beaters surrounded her, holding their bats in case any one wished to throw a bludger at their seeker. Harvey followed Young, but he was too far behind. It was clear that Young would reach the snitch first.

The Slytherin Beaters, enraged that they were going to lose, starting hitting Bludgers toward all the Gryffindor players, who had stopped moving to watch the two Seekers. One Bludger went toward Sterling, who dodged it. Another went toward Lily, who was looking away at the seekers. The Bludger hit her straight in the head, and she blanked out.

* * *

><p>Lily opened her eyes. She was in the Hospital Wing. All the beds nearby were empty. She stepped out of bed and walked toward Madame Pomfrey's office.<p>

"How long have I been here?" she asked. "What happened?"

Madame Pomfrey looked up from her desk to see Lily and responded, "A week. When that bludger hit you, your skull cracked. I fixed it up, but it took a while."

"Did Gryffindor win?" Lily asked.

Madame Pomfrey chuckled. "Is that all you care about? Whether your Quidditch team won or not? Anyway, yes, you did win. After you got hit, your seeker caught the snitch and Gryffindor won."

"Yes!" Lily said, happy.

"You should go back to bed," Madame Pomfrey said. "You're still a bit weak, so you shouldn't be standing too long."

Lily returned to bed but couldn't fall asleep, possibly because she had been unconscious for seven days. She sat in bed, thinking, when the Hospital Wing Door opened and a few people stepped in. Lily looked up and spotted Layla, Elena, Olivia, and—to her surprise—her mother.

Layla was the first to rush in. "You're alive!" she exclaimed.

"You sound so surprised," Lily said. "Was there a possibility that I would actually die?"

"No, but…" Layla was at a loss for words. "Well, we won the match. Young caught the snitch right after you got hit."

"How much did I miss?" Lily asked, gazing at her friends. "Did I miss a lot of work?"

"Not too much," Elena replied. "You're smart. You'll catch up quickly."

"That's good." Lily saw her mother staring at her. "How come you're here?"

"I heard your skull broke, so I came just to make sure you're okay." Ginny knelt down at Lily's bed. "Are you okay? With all your cousins gone…"

"I'm fine," Lily said quickly.

"Are you sure?" Ginny asked. Lily nodded, but Ginny wasn't convinced. "If you ever need me, don't hesitate to send an owl, okay? Your father and I have your best interests at heart."

Lily nodded. "Can I come home for the Easter holidays? James said that he and Albus were going home."

"Of course. You can see your father again." Ginny stood up and got ready to go. "You have good friends and teachers, Lily. You'll be fine." She left the hospital wing.

Layla immediately told Lily everything she missed. Lily half-listened, a bit tired. She fell asleep in the middle of Layla's talking.

Madame Pomfrey came out of her office and spotted Lily, asleep. "Out!" she shouted. "I allowed you to visit for a short time, but you must leave now! She's sleeping, for Merlin's sake!"

"Sorry." The three first-years crept out of the Hospital Wing, leaving Lily alone.


	20. Chapter 19

Lucy woke up on the last day of January feeling very strange. She had had a dream that she was walking down a very long, dark, corridor. She had a feeling that somebody was following her, but whenever she turned around there was nobody there. She kept on walking, and then Lysander appeared. At first she had felt happy, but then Lysander starting fading, until in the end he was gone.

After getting dressed, Lucy went down to the Great Hall for breakfast. She didn't see any of her fourth-year friends yet, so she joined Rose, Albus, and Scorpius.

"Hi Lucy," Rose said as Lucy sat down. "Did you have a good sleep?"

"Not really," Lucy responded. "I had a dream that some person was following me, and then Lysander appeared and faded."

"I knew you fancied him!" Scorpius' head appeared on the other side of Rose. "People only dream about people that they love."

"I am not in love with Lysander!" Lucy shouted, regretting that she had told Rose her dream. "Just because I dreamed about him does not mean I fancy him. And you can never tell Lysander that I dreamed about him."

Rose smiled. "It'll take you two a long time to figure it out. But someday, you will. My parents didn't realize they fancied each other until their seventh year."

Lucy didn't know what to say. She began eating instead, while the third-years were conversing about their day. Then, the owls began arriving and Albus saw his father's owl, Hedwig II. She looked a bit frazzled, and she jumped onto Albus' plate and started devouring his sausages.

"Lily's better!" Albus exclaimed as he read the letter. "And we're all going home for Easter Holidays."

"That's nice," Rose said. "I think I can convince Dad to let Hugo and I go home at Easter too."

"We could have a family Easter together!" Albus said. "You could all come to my home and celebrate."

"That would be nice," Scorpius said, staring at his plate.

"You could come too, Scorpius," Rose said kindly. "I'm sure Uncle Harry would be fine with that."

"I don't know if my Dad would agree," Scorpius replied.

"Don't worry, Scorpius, we'll arrange something," Albus said. He turned over his father's letter and scribbled a short reply. He tied the letter to Hedwig, and she flew off.

Neither Louis nor the Scamander twins showed up, so Lucy headed to Defense against the Dark Arts alone. She entered the classroom and slid into her seat next to Louis. "Where were you guys?"

"Slept in," Louis responded. "We didn't have time to go to breakfast, so we came here directly."

Lucy shook her head in exasperation. How could anyone sleep in, until 9? She got out her wand and _The Dark Forces: A guide to self-protection._ Professeur Rufus stood up and began talking.

"Today will be a practical lesson; we will be starting the most basic attack spell: Stunning. The Stunning spell is quite useful in most duels, and if simple to perform, but also simple to defend. Repeat after me the incantation: 'Stupefy.'"

"Stupefy," the class repeated.

"Yes, but you cannot simply say the spell. You must say it forcefully, as if you know when you say it that your enemy will be stunned. What the spell does is shoot a jet of red light at your opponent, and stun them, which is basically knocking them out for a few seconds. So now," Professeur Rufus said, "We will all practice this very useful spell. Everyone, get into partners. One person will stun the other, and the other person will try to stop him with a shield charm. You should all have learned shield charms in the beginning of this year, right?" The class nodded. "Off you go, then."

"Louis, do you want to be partners?" Lucy asked.

"Me?" Louis looked surprised. "I thought you'd want to be partners with Lysander."

Lucy shrugged. "It's nice being partners with someone else for a change."

"Okay, then." Louis got out his wand and stood up. "But I know why you actually wanted to be partners with me. It's because I'm easy to stun, isn't it?"

"No, that's not the reason," Lucy said hastily.

"Then what is it?"

"I told you, I just want to practice with someone else for a change. Anyway… do you want to stun me first, or do you want to block first?"

"I'll stun you first, if you don't mind." Lucy shrugged, agreeing, and held up her wand, ready to act on instincts whenever Louis performed the spell. Louis pointed his wand at Lucy's chest, and then, a few seconds later, shouted "Stupefy!"

A jet of red light came out of Louis's wand and went toward Lucy, but she shouted "Protego!" and a shield shot up around her body. The red light hit the silvery shield and rebounded, hitting Louis himself in the chest and knocking him onto the floor.

"Sorry, Louis," Lucy laughed. "I didn't mean to knock you out."

Louis groaned. "Next time, I'll remember to dodge."

They practiced for a few more minutes. Lucy managed to stun Louis every time, except the last time when he successfully produced a shield charm. The jet of light rebounded off the shield and went sideways, hitting a desk, but Lucy congratulated Louis. "You did it!" she shouted.

Louis looked stunned. "Wow. I actually did it. Now, can you not cast a shield charm so I can stun you?"

Lucy shook her head. "You have to act fast so I don't have time to conjure a shield charm. In a real duel, I won't let you win."

"Well, it was worth a try."

Half an hour later, DADA ended and the fourth-years split up; some went to Muggle Studies, some went to Divination. Lucy, Lorcan, and Lysander went to Divination, while Louis went to Muggle Studies. The Divination professor was much better than Trelawney or Firenze, and Lucy actually enjoyed it a bit. The teacher made much more sense.

When everyone was seated, Professeur Babin stood up. "Welcome to another class of Divination! I hope you have all finished your dream diaries."

Lucy nodded. Professeur Babin had told the class to record their dreams in a dream diary for one month—then, they would be interpreting them.

"Please open your textbooks to page 134," Professeur Babin said. "Read the section, and then begin interpreting your most recent dream, as it will have the most detail. Go on."

Lucy opened the book and read the section on Dream Interpretation. She wasn't too thrilled with having to interpret her latest dream; she knew what it meant, and didn't want anybody else to know.

After she had finished the section, Lucy opened her dream diary to the dream she had last night. She would just not include the part about Lysander appearing, that was all.

Thetextbook had said to first determine the subject of her dream. "What would be the subject of a dream in which I was walking down a long, long, hallway, and I thought there was somebody following me, but every time I turned around there was nobody there?" she asked, to nobody in particular.

Lorcan looked up. "I have no clue. Maybe… confusion?"

Lucy shook her head. "No, it has to be more specific than that."

"Maybe it's suspicion?" Lysander suggested. "Or anguish? Or stalkers?"

"I think I'm going to ask Professeur Babin," Lucy said. When she got back to her table, Lysander was talking to his twin but immediately stopped when Lucy sat down.

"What where you talking about?" Lucy asked. "Your dream? What was it?"

"Oh, just that I was fighting a troll," Lysander said quickly. "Nothing much."

Lucy had the impression that fighting a troll was not Lysander's dream at all, but she didn't question it. "So, what did you dream, Lorcan?"

"It was a really weird dream. I was back at Hogwarts," Lorcan began. "And I was walking down the hall when I saw Professor Binns walking by. But he wasn't a ghost anymore. He was alive."

"Creepy," Lysander commented.

"But in my dream mind it felt normal to see Professor Binns alive," Lorcan said. "Like he had always been alive all along. And then I walked down the hallway and the other professors, like Professor Flitwick and Trelawney were all ghosts!"

"What happened next?"  
>"Not much. I kept on walking and saw more ghosts who were supposed to be human, and then I woke up."<p>

"That's a really weird dream," Lucy said. "So the subject of your dream would be ghosts, I think. When did you dream this?"

"Two nights ago," Lorcan replied. "I didn't dream last night."

"So you would add the number of letters in the subject—G-H-O-S-T-S—six—to the date you dreamed this, the 29th—"

"No, the 30th," Lorcan interrupted. "I know I dreamed this early in the morning, at 4 or 5 am."

"Okay. So thirty plus six equals thirty-six, and we have to add your age…"

"Fourteen," Lorcan and Lysander said together.

"We're going to be fifteen in four months," Lysander said.

"I'm going to be fifteen in two months," Lucy said. "I'm older than you two. So, that's thirty-six plus fourteen which is fifty, so…" She turned to the index of her textbook and found the chapter 'Dreams' and went to the section titled '50.' Lucy read it and laughed. "Wait till you find out what your dream means."

"What?" Lorcan asked, flipping to the index and finding it himself. "_The dream you had means that you are very unsure in life. You doubt the things that you see around you, and you wish they would change._"

"So you wish that all the humans would become ghosts?" Lysander wondered.

"No," Lorcan said. "This doesn't make any sense. Maybe the subject should have been something else."

"It doesn't matter," Lucy said. "I wonder what my dream means. Professor Babin said that the subject was 'chased,' because I evidently thought I was being chased by somebody. She said that a lot of people have these dreams, so she knows the subject. So that means… 14+30+6…"

"That's the same as mine," Lorcan commented. "Fifty."

"Strange." Lucy read the paragraph again. It made some sense, and fit her a bit more than it did Lorcan, anyway. Did she really doubt the things around her? Maybe. And she did want things to change…

* * *

><p>The day before Valentine's Day, posters were being posted up all over the school that students third-year and up were allowed to visit Sable, a nearby wizarding town. Most students, including all of the Weasley family, were planning on going.<p>

The morning of the fourteenth, Rose, Albus, and Scorpius followed the other students down a few streets toward the town of Sable. It was a bright, sunny day, with almost no snow left; it was clear that spring was coming soon.

When the pack of students turned the corner, the first few shops of Sable came into view. Rose had never been to Hogsmeade before, so her first impression was that Sable was the most beautiful town in the world. The town was near the coast, so there were many shops selling freshly-caught fish. There were also many bakeries and other food stores, all of which smelled delicious. As Rose walked further down, she could see lots of cafés and diners, all of which were filled with customers.

"Wow." She could hear gasps of amazement from all of the students from other schools. France was so much different from Britain and Norway, and all the students were amazed.

"So where is there to go?" she asked Sage, who was nearby.

"Oh, there are so many places you could go," she responded. "You could go to Bonbons, the candy shop which is supposedly filled with lots of magical candy, or Café Rouge, which has the best Butterbeer ever. But I've never been here either; I just heard this from my sister. So where'd you want to go first?"

"Why don't we just walk around and see if there's anything nice?" Rose suggested.

Sage agreed, and Rose, Sage, Louisa, Scorpius, Albus, and a few Beauxbatons boys began walking down the street, looking in all the stores with wonder. After entering about fifteen stores and staring at all the marvelous things, they decided to stop at Café Rouge for some lunch. After they all got seated—the café was filled with students—they ordered seven Butterbeers. Rose sipped hers and immediately felt warm all over. It was delicious.

After their Butterbeers, the group of third-years split up, the Beauxbatons going in a different direction from the Hogwarts students. Rose wished to visit the town bookstore to buy some books, and Scorpius and Albus agreed. When they entered the small bookshop, the place was nearly empty. Rose headed toward the back of the store and, to her surprise, saw James, Fred, and Oliver there as well.

"Why are you three here?" Rose was shocked that any of them would ever willingly go into a place with books. "I thought you hated reading."

"Oh, we needed to do some research," James quickly said. "The Beauxbatons library didn't have the necessary resources."

"I'll help, if you want," Rose offered. "What do you need to find?"

The three boys exchanged glances. They whispered something, and then nodded. "Alright, then. We need to find a charm or spell that allows you to survive in fire, without getting burned."

"That sounds easy," Rose replied. "I've heard of a charm that does that. I just need to find it. But why do you need this?"

"Just curious," James quickly said.

"Do you just want to get rid of me?" Rose asked. "I'll leave, if you want."

"No, that's not what we want!" Oliver intervened. "James needs to know this because…" He faced James. "Is it okay to tell her?"

James nodded. "We can trust Rose."

"Okay," Oliver said. To Rose, he said, "It's for the second task."

"Really?" she asked. James nodded. "Well, I can find this quickly." She headed off into the row dedicated to charms, looking up and down the rows. After a few minutes, she finally found what she was looking for. She pulled a small book from the shelves and flipped to the Index. "Flame-freezing charm, flame-freezing charm…" Rose looked down the row of Fs until she found the word. "Page 109." She flipped there and found the charm.

Rose ran back toward the sixth-years. "I found it!" she said.

"Really?" James asked. "What's the spell?"

"I remember Professor Binns discussing this during one of his lectures," Rose said. "It was about the witch burnings in the medieval times, and how they used this charm to resist feeling burned."

"How did you manage to stay awake?" Fred wondered. "I fall asleep every class."

Rose shrugged. "Well, if you cast this charm, which has a simple incantation, the fire nearby won't burn you—you'll only feel a slight tickling sensation."

"What would I do without you?" James asked. "This spell is perfect! But how long does it last? And what's the range of it's effect?"

"It only lasts for five minutes," Rose replied. "But you can always reapply it. And I think it's range is a few feet."

"That's good," James said. "Can I see the book with the spell?"

"Sure." Rose handed the book to him.

"Wow." James read a few lines about the flame-freezing spell. "We've been researching for more than a month already and found nothing. It took you less than ten minutes! Thank you so much."

* * *

><p><strong>I hoped you liked the town of Sable! I couldn't think of any names for French towns, so I named it Sable because that's what 'sand' means in French. I imagined Sable to be like one of the little side streets in Quebec, filled with lots of people and all these little stores. <strong>

**Does the flame-freezing spell surprise you? It's the only spell mentioned in the Harry Potter series that describes how to survive in fire.**

**Sorry for not being able to update tomorrow… I will update on Sunday and then everyday again!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Thank you so much for all the reviews! They are so nice and help me write faster. Oh, and I promise that the Second Task will be a bit interesting. The champions won't all use the same spell.**

**I can't believe this is chapter 20 already! So it's been more than 20 days since I started writing this story. Wow.**

**So, I was wondering, 1) who is your favorite character? 2) Which character's point of view do you like reading the best (for some reason, I like writing James and Lucy the best)? And 3) do you think I should write from a new character's point of view? Sorry for all these questions, but it would help a lot of you answered them.  
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><p>Meanwhile, Dominique, Roxanne, Molly, and Charlotte were browsing Bonbons' candy store. Dominique and Molly still weren't talking, but Dominique decided to stay with all her Hogwarts friends just to please Molly.<p>

"Oh, look at these!" Charlotte said, pointing to a package on the shelf. "Chocolate quills!"

"They only have Sugar Quills in Honeydukes," Dominique commented. "But chocolate is so much better. I think I'll buy one." She took one and put it in her pocket.

Five minutes later, with their pockets much lighter, the four students left Bonbons and headed back to Beauxbatons. It was nearly 7 pm, time for dinner back at Beauxbatons.

"So, do you like Sable or Hogsmeade better?" Dominique tried to lighten the atmosphere, as none of them were talking.

"Oh, they're both really nice," Charlotte responded. "But there're so different. Sable is a bright, busy, coastal town, while Hogsmeade is more cozy. They're so hard to compare."

"I actually like this town better," Roxanne said. "It's more cheery. Hogsmeade is really pretty, especially in winter, but it's not bright."

"Really?" Dominique asked, surprised. "Me too. I mean, Hogsmeade is great, but it's so dark."

They continued walking and finally reached Beauxbatons. The Hall was changed from yesterday; all the tables were decorated with pink flowers, and there was confetti from the ceiling.

"Disgusting," Dominique commented as she sat down at the least pink table.

"Yeah. Why would they decorate this whole hall with pink? It looks despicable," Charlotte said. "It hurts my eyes."

Dominique ate as fast as she could so she could leave the pink room. She still hadn't made up with Molly, but nevertheless, she had a wonderful Valentine's Day with her friends.

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><p>One week away from the Second Task, James had to start perfecting the Flame-Freezing charm. He had read the details of the charm and was pretty sure that he knew how to do it, but he wanted to try just to make sure.<p>

James sought out Gilbert, the seventh-year who knew all the secrets of the castle, and asked him if he knew there was any room that was on the first floor and good for practicing spells. Gilbert told him that there was a room directly across from the Hall which had an unused classroom that students could use for practice. To enter, all you had to do was knock on the door in a pattern of knocks: one fast, two slow, three fast.

The evening of the 19th, James, Oliver, and Fred quietly entered Beauxbatons castle and walked toward the hallway next to the dining area. Making sure that there was nobody nearby, James knocked on the wall according to Gilbert's instructions. A door appeared, and the three quickly went inside.

Unlike the mysterious room on the sixth floor, this room was a normal unused classroom, with a table in the front and rows of desks. "It'll work," James said, examining the room. He took out his wand and practiced the charm. "_Gelatino._"

"Ready?" Oliver asked, taking out his wand.

"I think so." James stood back and waited for Oliver to act, while Fred watched, to the side.

"Incendio!" A small flame flew out of Oliver's wand and grew bigger and bigger, inching toward James.

James pointed his wand at the flame and muttered, "Gelatino." The flame glowed for a second and then continued growing, towards James. "Should I touch it?" he asked. "What if my spell didn't work?"

"Then you'll get burned," Oliver said. "But the nurse could fix that really easily. But if you really think your spell worked, just touch a corner of the flame and nothing should happen."

James slowly held his finger up and carefully brought it toward the fire. He trembled as he almost reached the fire, then closed his eyes and put his finger through the fire.

He didn't feel any pain. James opened his eyes, and looked at his finger. It was fine. "It worked!" James shouted in relief. Just for the fun of it, he went toward the fire and put his whole body in it. "It's not doing anything!" The fire felt like a breeze, and was actually a nice feeling.

"That's so cool!" Fred said, coming over. "If I touch the fire, will I be immune to it too?"

"I think so," James said. "The spell does it to the fire, not the person. But I'm not 100% sure. Try at your own risk."

Fred shrugged and carefully reached a hand to touch the fire. "Nope, I'm fine," Fred said. "This is so cool." He put his arms in the fire, marveling at how he didn't get burned.

"Can I get rid of the fire now?" Oliver asked. "The charm's supposed to wear out in a few minutes. You don't want to get burned."

James and Fred agreed, allowing their friend to get rid of the fire. "That was so cool," Fred said again, examining his arms. "You're going to be amazing at this task. You've got everything planned out: the Flame-freeze charm, and Quidditch…"

"Quidditch!" James exclaimed. "I haven't practiced since… four months ago! I'm probably so bad at it right now. I've got to practice right now."

"Slow down, mate," Fred said. "It's almost 10 and it's dark outside. How about tomorrow?"

"Fine," James responded. "But as soon as I wake up in the morning."

"Wow, James," Oliver said. "I've never seen anybody so eager as you."

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><p>The following morning, James woke up at 5 am, got dressed, and dashed out of his tent. Then he realized he had no idea where the Quidditch pitch was.<p>

James ran back into his tent and shook Fred, who was sleeping. "Wake up!" he hissed. "Where's the Quidditch pitch?"

"Go ask Oliver," Fred moaned. "Tired."

James went over to Oliver's bed. "Where's the Quidditch pitch?"

"What?" Oliver opened his eyes to see James standing over him, fully dressed in Quidditch uniform, holding a broom. "I'll tell you in an hour."

"No, now!" James insisted. "I'm going to keep on bothering you until you tell me."

"Go ask Fred," Oliver said, closing his eyes.

"I did, and he doesn't know," James replied. "So where is it?"

"It's outside the castle," Oliver said.

"Well, of course! You need to be more specific than that."

"It's in the back," Oliver said. "If you leave the castle from the Potions room, turn right, and walk a short distance, you should see the pitch. It's really big. You can't miss it."

"Thanks," James said. "Will you and Fred come over in an hour or two to help me practice?"

"Maybe." James took that as a yes and left the tent. He took the path around the castle and walked to where his Potions class was. He turned right, and walked a bit and saw the huge Quidditch pitch and the six posts.

James took out his broom and mounted it, and took off. Until that moment when he was in the air, James had forgotten how much he had missed flying. The feel of the whoosh of the air when he flew around, the thrill when he made a loop or dived… James was glad he could experience flying again.

After flying a few laps around the pitch, James looked down and realized there was somebody standing there. He didn't think Fred or Oliver would be here that early. He'd only been flying for fifteen minutes. James flew closer to the ground so he could see who the person was.

It was Moreau. James wasn't too surprised; he knew that Moreau had been stalking him. James landed on the ground and walked toward Moreau. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I talk walks around the school every morning," Moreau replied. "It's quite refreshing, and benefits my health. I walked around the back and noticed you were flying."

"So what do you want?" James asked, rather rudely. "Or are you just going to watch me fly?"

"I _am _head of the Department of International Relations and the Ministry of Magic, Potter," Moreau said. "So you should treat me with respect."

"I will when you stop following me everywhere! Can you let me practice flying?"

"It was just a coincidence that I met you here this morning," Moreau said. "I did not follow you here. I have better things than following sixteen-year-olds."

"Well, get to it, then," James said. He mounted his broom and was ready to fly.

"Do you think you're ready for the second task?" Moreau interrupted.

James turned around and stared at the judge. "I think so. And this time, I worked out the clue without cheating. So don't dare take points off."

"So you admit to cheating the first time, don't you?" Moreau asked. James cursed himself for what he had just said. "Well, at least you haven't gone up to the sixth floor since the Yule Ball. I know what you did there. Well, good luck practicing. I wish you luck on the Second Task." Without further ado, Moreau strode off.

James stared at him but lifted off into the air. As he flew around the pitch a couple of times, he couldn't help wondering whether it really was a coincidence or not.

When Fred and Oliver finally came, around seven, James told him what had happened with Moreau.

"Weird," Fred said. "It's definitely not a coincidence. He must be stalking you."

"But how?" James wondered. "I swear I didn't see anyone when I left the tent this morning and went here."

"Maybe he put a device on you that tracks where you are," Oliver said. "Or there's one in our tent."

"There's nothing on me," James said. "I never got close to Moreau for him to do that. I'll examine our tent later, though. So, did you guys bring the wires?"

"Yep." Oliver showed James the basket that was full of makeshift wires; in fact, they were just pieces of parchment that Oliver had colored green to camaflouge with the grass and make it a challenge. James flew into the air and looked away from the ground while Fred and Oliver littered the ground with the wires.

"We're done!" Fred announced. "Are you ready?"

James dived as a response. He flew down until he was five feet from the ground and began looking around for the wires. He spotted one and flew even lower until he could reach the wire from his broomstick. "Where should I put this?" he asked his friends.

"Oh, you should have brought a basket or something so you could put the wires in them," Oliver said. "For now, just… I don't know, try to ride one-handed?"

James shrugged, but tried Oliver's suggestion. "It's actually not that hard!" he shouted as he looked for more wires.

Thirty minutes later, James had found all of the wires. He landed on the ground with a shout of joy. "That was so much fun!"

"Don't forget, at the actual task you'll have to be doing the flame-freezing spell too, so it'll be much harder," Oliver said.

"Stop being such a spoilsport, Oliver," James said.

"I'm just pointing out the facts," Oliver said. "There's nothing wrong with that."

"Yes there is," James replied. "But even with the spell, it won't take me thirty minutes more. I think now I can be confident that I'll win the second task."

"Unless Moreau takes off points because he doesn't like you," Oliver pointed out.

"Stop being so pessimistic!"

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><p>The morning of the task, the first through third years got onto the Hogwarts express, ready to journey to Beauxbatons again and watch the second task. Although many of them were excited, no student was as eager as Lily Potter to get to go to Beauxbatons. Even though she was mad at Rose and Albus, she wasn't angry with her oldest brother. She knew it wasn't James's fault that Albus acted so stupidly.<p>

Lily, Elena, Layla, and Olivia claimed their usual compartment and waited for the train to begin moving. Having been on the Hogwarts Express three times already, they decided to stay in the same compartment every trip.

"This train moves so slowly!" Lily said as the train began moving away from Hogwarts.

"It moves at 500 kilometers per hour," Elena said. "That's faster than any muggle train. France is really far away from here, so it's bound to take a few hours."

"Why can't they just use magic to make it go even faster?" Lily wondered. "Then we wouldn't have to wake up at 5 in the morning only to get to France at 10."

"Come on, it's fast enough," Layla said. All three of the first-years knew Lily wasn't a morning person, but they were still annoyed be her complaining.

"Well, I'm going to take a nap," Lily declared. "Wake me up when we're almost there." With that, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Four hours later, the train slowed down and stopped outside Beauxbatons. As soon as the train stopped, Lily jumped up and opened the compartment door. She dashed out and was the first one off the train.

"Wow, she's excited," Layla said as she followed her friend off the train. When all the students got off, Professor Longbottom told them to walk toward the back of the school, where the second task was to take place.

"You'll see lots of people over there, and, er, lots of fire, so you can't miss it," Professor Longbottom said. "I'm just going to make sure there' nobody left on the train. Go on first."

Lily dragged Layla with her as she walked toward the back of the school. "Did Professor Longbottom really say fire?"

"I think my dad did," Layla replied. "It's going to be such a fun task to watch today."

"Let's run toward the back of the school so we can get there sooner," Lily said, starting to run. Layla groaned but followed. They were the first of the younger students to get toward the back.

"Whoa." Lily stopped running and stared in amazement at what she saw. The Beauxbatons Quidditch pitch had been changed completely. She couldn't even see the grass anymore; instead, the field was covered with fire. Bright red and orange flames covered the field, reaching heights of fifty feet, almost reaching the Quidditch posts. The whole field was a marvelous display of color.

"Wow," Layla said. The two first years were speechless, watching.

"Lily!" Someone called Lily's name. She looked up into the stands where there were lots of students watching, and she spotted her cousin Rose. Lily ignored her, pretending not to hear.

"Lily!" This time, the person calling her name was closer. Lily looked straight ahead and saw James coming, dressed in Muggle clothing and holding his broomstick.

"James!" Lily dashed over and gave her brother a hug. "Do you know what you're going to do? Are you nervous? What is the task? Are you going to get injured?"

James chuckled. "I know what I'm going to do, but I'm still nervous, I might get injured, and you'll find out what the task is soon. I have to go now, Lily. The champions have to confer over there." He pointed toward the tent that was set up outside the Quidditch stadium.  
>"Well, good luck," Lily said.<p>

"Thanks. You should go up and get a seat before all the good seats get taken," James said as he walked toward the tent.

"Okay, thanks!" Lily turned toward Layla. "Do you want to find a seat?"

"Sure." The two first years walked toward the stands and walked toward the highest row, where they got a birds-eye view of the field. From above, the Quidditch field looked like a deadly red field. Lily hoped her brother knew what he was doing.

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><p><strong>I'll update tomorrow with the Second Task! So please review!<strong>


	22. Chapter 21

**Oh. My. Gosh. 10 Reviews for one chapter! Thank you, everyone who reviewed or read or story alerted or favorited this story! Thank you so much!**

**Thanks for answering my questions too. As for the PoV, I think I'll keep it from the point of views that I have so far, since that's what most people suggested. (There may be a possibility of a new point of view, but I'm not sure yet.) The next chapter starts off with Harry's PoV, but since I already wrote in his PoV in an earlier chapter, that doesn't count. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the Second Task! (I hope it didn't go too fast...)**

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><p>"So, do all of you know what the Second Task is?" Fournier asked. The three champions were standing in a tent, where they would wait before the Second Task began. James could hear the roar of the fire even from far away.<p>

The three champions all nodded. "Well, just in case any of you missed something," Fournier continued. "The objective of the second task is to collect as many golden wires from the field as you can in one hour."

None of the champions showed any sign of surprise. Evidently they all understood the riddle. "This is what the golden wire looks like." Fournier held up an object that looked like a golden ring, only a few inches longer in circumference. "It's not actually a wire, but that doesn't matter. Anyway, there's going to be thirty of these somewhere in the field, and you'll have an hour to get as many as you possibly can. Is that clear?"

The champions nodded again. "Any questions?"

"Am I allowed to use my broom?" James asked, holding up his Nimbus 2006.

"No," Fournier replied. "As a champion, you're only allowed to use your wand, but I'm sure you'll be able to work something out, won't you?"

James nodded. He would just use a summoning charm to get his broom.

"So, you all have five minutes to prepare yourselves," Fournier told the champions. "I'm going out to explain the task to the onlookers. Good luck." He left the tent.

The three champions stood there in silence. Aimee Caron broke it. "So, do you two have ideas about what you're going to do?"

James nodded. Rosencrantz grunted.

"I hope we don't have the same idea," Caron said. "Because I only found one possible way to survive in fire."

"I found three," Rosencrantz responded, talking for the first time ever. His voice was low and hoarse.

Caron shrugged. "Are you two nervous?"

"No." That was Rosencrantz.

"Are you ever nervous?" Caron asked.

"No."

"That's impossible."

"No."

James let the two to argue while he paced the tent, thinking and worrying. His mind flew everywhere and he was so preoccupied in worrying that he didn't even hear Fournier announce that it was time to leave the tent.

"Potter!" Caron shouted. "We're going to start without you if you don't come right now!"

James snapped back to reality and followed the other champions out the door. "Sorry."

They walked onto the edge of the stadium, and James could feel the heat and sense the power of the fire. He wished that the second task were something else. If only it was based on air… James would have been perfect at that. Or earth, that was good too. Even water was okay. But fire. It was dangerous and had a sense of power to it.

"Welcome to the Second Task!" Fournier announced, his voice magnified twenty times again. "Before we will begin, remember that, currently, the order of the champions is this: Anton Rosencrantz of Durmstrang Institute in first place, with 43 points!" The Durmstrang students in the audience applauded loudly. "In second place, James Potter of Hogwarts School with 41 points!" All the Hogwarts students clapped. "And in third place, Aimee Caron of Beauxbatons Academy, with 39 points!" Even though she was in third place, Caron received the most applause since the Tournament was taking place in her home school.

"But the ranking does not matter right now," Fournier continued. "It only matters in the third and last task. And right now is the beginning of the Second Task!"

James was confused. Did that mean they were supposed to begin? He looked around and spotted Rosencrantz waving his wand in the air, and James guessed that they were supposed to begin. "Accio my broom!" he shouted.

James waited nervously when nothing happened. What if his broom didn't come? His whole plan would fail if the broom didn't show up. 30 seconds had passed already, and he nervously waited. His fellow competitors had already entered into the fire and disappeared from view. If his broom showed up, he would definitely win, because it was much easier watching something from the air then from on the ground. But if his broom didn't come, he would be behind…

James heard a _whoosh _and his beloved broomstick landed at his side. _Thank Merlin,_ James thought, and mounted his broom. He kicked off and rose into the air. He could see all the spectators in the crowd gasping and talking, but James didn't mind. It was just like a Quidditch match, and the talkative spectators were just his fans.

He flew low, near the flames, and looked around for any gold wire. The flames were a good camouflage for the flames, but he knew he would spot a glint of gold if he got close to a wire. James scanned the fire, looking for anything…

Nothing. The wires must all have been on the ground, buried too deeply by fire to let him see. James groaned, and picked a patch of fire that he hoped was filled with gold wires. He flew down until he was inches away from the fire, and said, "Gelatino."

The flame glowed, meaning the spell had done what it was supposed to do. James slowly went down, casting the spell again and again to make sure. He could hear the people in the crowd shouting, but he didn't care. As he descended, he was going into a new world of fire.

Everything he could see was made of bright reds and oranges, and he was surrounded by vibrant colors. If he weren't in a rush, James would have stopped just to admire his surroundings. But since he had a task to accomplish, James tried not to focus on the fire, but on his task ahead.

He was in the middle of the fire when the coughing started. Even though the fire didn't burn him, the smoke still affected him. James cursed himself again for forgetting about that, and quickly flew up to get some fresh air. It felt wonderful. James applied the bubble-head charm that his father had told him about when he was explaining his second task, and dived again. This time, everything was perfect. The only problem was that he had wasted fifteen minutes already.

Hoping that his opponents had encountered some problems too, James scanned the fire for any glint of gold among the flames. He knew they would all be on the ground; wires couldn't float. So, flying about a foot from the ground, James searched, casting the flame-freezing spell as he went. Finally, he found one. It was lying on the ground, just like the one Fournier had held, but it wasn't burned. It seemed that it was immune to fire. The judges probably had cast a spell on it to repel it from magic, but what the spell was, James didn't know.

James picked it up and examined it. It was small and shiny, and James debated what he should do with it. Then he saw that the missing center was exactly the thickness of his wand. He put the wire around his wand, and slid it to the bottom where his hand was so it wouldn't fall out. _Perfect_, James thought. _1 down. 29 to go. _

James continued searching and eventually found three more golden wires in the next fifteen minutes. If he continued at this rate, he'd have more than ten wires, and would hopefully be the winner.

James was about to pick up his sixth golden wire when he was tapped on the shoulder. He looked up. There was Rosencrantz, who seemed to be glowing. He didn't have his wand out, so whatever spell he did, it seemed to have lasted a long time. James wondered what spell he could possibly have done.

"What?" James demanded. His hand was inches away from the wire, but James didn't grab it. He didn't know why. He just didn't.

"That's mine," Rosencrantz demanded. He pointed to the wire.

"No, I got here first," James replied, closing his fingers on the wire and backing away from his fellow champion.

"No, I did!" Rosencrantz ran after James, but James got away first, jumping onto his broomstick and flying away.

James couldn't help but replay the scene in his mind. He had just gotten away from Rosencrantz, who was his biggest competition! James had seen the wires in his hand; he had about the same amount of wires, so that meant James needed to hurry up a bit to beat him. But, he had just gotten one more wire than him!

James continued on flying, and had spotted Caron once while in the air, who seemed to be doing the same spell as him. She had done the bubble-head charm too, but she had less wires than him.

Now, James seemed to be in a pattern. Fly, dive, pick up the wire, put it on his wand, and repeat the cycle over again. He effortlessly picked up more and more wires, and when Fournier finally announced that time was up, James had thirteen wires on his wand.

"And the champions are back!" Fournier announced as the champions returned out of the fire, toward the edge of the stadium. James flew out toward Fournier, while the other two champions walked out of the fire. James smiled at the fact that none of them had thought about flying.

"How many wires did you get?" Fournier asked the three champions with an 'un-sonoroused' voice, so nobody else could hear. James showed Fournier his thirteen wires on his ring. Fournier acknowledged them with a nod. Caron had seven, while Rosencrantz had ten.

"Good job," Fournier said to the three champions. "You can all go rest, if you want. I have to confer with the other judges for a few minutes, and then we'll decide on the score together."

James barely heard Fournier's words. He was so exhausted and sweaty from all that flying and heat that he just collapsed onto the ground. The Second Task wasn't too bad, but he was still glad it was over.

"Us judges have conferred, and we have decided on the champions' scores!" Fournier announced, his voice loud again. "First, Aimee Caron. She displayed a remarkable combination of the bubble-head charm and the flame-freeze charm to manage to survive in the fire. And she gathered seven golden wires!" The crowd applauded. "So now the points…"

Professor Bernhardt waved his wand and a magical eight flew up. Madame Maxime conjured a nine, Professor McGonagall gave her an eight, Moreau gave her an eight, and Fournier gave her an eight.

"So, Aimee Caron has forty-one points!" Fournier shouted.

"Now Anton Rosencrantz. He used Fierberries to repel fire, and managed to get ten golden wires! Now the points…"

James watched as high numbers flew up for the Durmstrang champion. Bernhardt: 10. Maxime: 9. McGonagall: 9. Moreau: 8. Fournier: 9.

"Forty-four points to Anton Rosencrantz!" commented Fournier. "And last, James Potter, who also used the flame-freezing and bubble-head charm, but used his broomstick as well. He gathered the most wires out of all the champions: thirteen!" The crowd applauded loudly and James smiled. He watched nervously as the judges gave him points, but he didn't need to worry.

Bernhardt, McGonagall, and Fournier all gave him tens, while Madame Maxime gave him a nine and Moreau awarded him an 8. James shrugged as he watched Moreau's eight slowly fade. It wasn't too bad; it was better than a 6, anyway.

"So our last champion has forty-seven points!"

James quickly added the scores in his head and realized that he was now in the lead, with one point more than Rosencrantz! The task was now over, so the students in the stands were leaving. James ran over and sought out his best friends. He found Fred and Oliver getting off the stands.

"That was amazing!" Fred said. "You were the best, by far. I can't believe nobody else thought of flying. You should have seen yourself… the fire was sort of see-through, so it was so cool to watch."

James smiled again. He didn't know what to say, but smiling seemed to be enough.

"So you're in the lead, now," Oliver declared.

"Yeah, I am," James said, thinking. "I just wondered… what's a Fierberry? The thing Rosencrantz used to survive in fire?"

"No idea," Fred replied, which James had predicted he would say.

"Do you know?" James directed his question at Oliver this time.

"I've heard of them," Oliver replied. "But I don't know much about them. You'll have to ask someone else."

"Okay, thanks." James turned back into the stands and looked around for anybody he could ask. Then he spotted Rose, who had told him about the flame-freezing charm. He walked up to her. "Hey, Rose?"

"You were so good!" she exclaimed. "In the second task!"

"Thanks," James replied. "But only thanks to you. If you didn't tell me about the flame-freezing charm, I would have been dead."

Rose shook her head. "No, you did most of the work."

"Anyway… I need to ask you something," James said. "You know the object Rosencrantz ate to survive in the fire? The Fierberry? Do you know what that is?"

"Yeah, I do," Rose replied. "If you eat it, it lets you become impervious to fire for an hour. But they're really expensive and rare. That's why I told you about the flame-freezing charm, instead of the Fierberries."

"So where could Rosencrantz get it from?" James asked.

"I'm not sure. Hogwarts doesn't have any supplies of it, and neither does Beauxbatons. I don't know about Durmstrang… maybe he sent a letter to one of his friends and they sent him the Fierberry. But they're so rare. That's because they only grow in the hottest places on earth, like the desert. Only people who deal with fires, like Uncle Charlie who deals with dragons, use them."

"That's strange," James commented. "Well, thanks Rose. You helped me so much. I don't know how you know so much stuff."

"That's because I read, James," Rose replied. "If you started paying attention in class and read some books, you'd probably become smarter than me."

"No one could ever be smarter than you, Rose," James said. "You're amazingly smart. So, thanks a lot for all the information."

"No problem."

James pushed through the crowd to find Fred and Oliver, and repeated what Rose had told him about the Fierberries. None of them had much to say.

"That's really weird," Fred said. "Maybe he illegally found them."

"Or maybe Durmstrang just has a supply of them," Oliver suggested. "That's more likely."

"Whatever the reason is," Fred answered. "It doesn't matter. You won the task, and that's all that matters. So now we can have a party in the common room!"

James laughed. "That would be fun."

After Fred crept down to the kitchens and took a lot of the elves' food, the Gryffindors ate all of the food right away. Everyone was impressed with James' performance.

After a few hours, when the party had died down, James was sitting on the sofa, writing a long letter to his father about the Second Task. He made sure to write in code, in case Moreau intercepted it. All of a sudden, Fred appeared in front of him, with a grin that made James suspect that he was going to do some prank.

"What?" James asked.

"She said yes!" Fred said, his weird smile still on his face.

"Who? And yes to what?"

"Katie Moore. I asked her out, and she said yes!"

"Nice," James said. He knew his friend had been obsessed with her for a while. "So what are you two going to do, then? It's not like there's anymore trips to Sable."

Fred shrugged. "We don't need those. We'll just talk, and hopefully snog… things like that."

"Fun." James looked at his really long letter and thought for a moment. "Do you want me to tell my Dad about that?"

"What? Why?" Fred looked confused. "Did you drink too much firewhiskey?" Fred had managed to somehow bring Firewhiskey into the party, but he had made sure that nobody below seventeen could drink it. Besides, himself and James, of course.

"Grandma Molly is inviting all of the Weasley's and some friends to her house for Easter," James replied. "We're all going to the Burrow for a few days. So if you want to bring a friend… I've already asked Oliver, and he agreed."

"No, don't," Fred replied. "I don't think Katie's ready to see our whole family together like that. Besides, she's going home to her parents for Easter."

"Oh, alright," James said. "I just thought you wouldn't want to be apart."

Fred frowned, but didn't say anything, and left James alone on the couch.

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><p><strong>Please review! Is my chapter too short? Boring? Too much descriptions? <strong>


	23. Chapter 22

Harry had never received such a long letter from anyone, let alone his son. He was so surprised when he received it, but proud too.

It read:

_Dad,_

_ I won! I won! I won! Sorry about that, but I'm so happy! I won! _

Then it went into a detailed explanation about the task, and what James had done in order to win the task. Then, it started listing random things. Harry was particularly enchanted by this part:

_All my aunts and uncles told me about the day when you left History of Magic because something appeared at the window. Remember what it was, and why you had to leave? I think it was in your Fifth year, and you met Professor Grubbly-Plank after you left class. You know the reason why you left, right? Well, that same thing is happening to me now, I think. Not just me, but all my cousins._

_ Also, I think I'm in the same situation that you were in at the summer before your fifth year started. Only, you didn't know you were in that situation until later, when Dudley got hurt. I know I am right now. _

_I can't wait for Easter. Then I can ask you for suggestions, since you once were in the same situation as I am in now. In more than one way. But don't try to do anything until Easter. I've got it all planned out. If you do something, you'll just make it worse._

Harry read over this section again and again. He tried to understand day during fifth year when he left History of Magic and met Grubbly-Plank… He tried to think. He'd left History of Magic a lot, since it was so boring. But what happened that year? Harry tried, but he couldn't remember. That was a long time ago, when he was fifteen.

The next part, though, Harry could understand. Before his fifth year at Hogwarts, dementors had attacked Dudley, his cousin. But what situation was he in before that? He was being starved and mistreated, as usual… But James didn't have to deal with that, and Harry had known he was being mistreated all along.

Then he realized. He was being watched. Mrs. Figg and Mundungus Fletcher… they had been watching him at all times. So the first paragraph meant… someone was watching his owls! Like Professor Umbridge had intercepted his owl on that day during History of Magic! It all made sense now!

Harry, being head of the Aurors, immediately knew that the best way to act was probably to go to Beauxbatons right now and find James. But he consulted his wife first. "Ginny!"

Ginny came over from the kitchen. "What?"

"Read this." Harry gave her the letter, and she took a while to read it.

"But what does it mean?" Ginny asked when she was done.

"It means that James is being followed," Harry replied. "And somebody is reading all his mail."

Ginny paused. "Do you think this is real?"

"Of course," Harry said. "James wouldn't lie about something this serious. I'm going to Beauxbatons right now." He got up and walked toward the door.

"Harry, don't." Ginny went over and placed a hand on his shoulder. "James specifically wrote that he doesn't want you to come. Your son is sixteen. He can work it out on his own. And I think, if you interfere, you'll just make things worse—between the danger that James is facing, and between you and him."

Harry nodded, understanding. "I guess you're right. If James truly doesn't want me to come, he's not in life-threatening danger."

Ginny nodded. "And by Easter, it'll be alright."

So Harry took his wife's advice and wrote a simple letter back. He just hoped that James would understand it.

_James,_

_ I'm head of the Aurors, remember that. I can break any code that anyone sends me easily. So if you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask me. _

_ I'm proud of you for winning. I truly am. And I know how you feel right now. But, trust me, all will be right at Easter._

* * *

><p>"He knows!"<p>

"What?"

"My dad. He understood!"

It was the morning of the first day of March, and James was eating breakfast while reading the letter Hedwig had brought him.

"Understood what?" Oliver asked again.

"About Moreau," James replied, in a low voice.

"You told him?" Fred asked, extremely loudly so that other people in the hall turned around to glare at him. He lowered his voice. "But—but then Moreau would intercept your letter?"

"I'm not that stupid, Fred," James replied. "I wouldn't do that. But I told him really secretly. I wasn't sure if he would be able to find out."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wrote that the thing that's happening to me now is the same thing that happened to my father at the beginning of his fifth year," James replied. "And also the same thing that happened in his History of Magic class in his fifth year."

"Oh, I get it," Fred said. "So how did your dad respond?"

"Here." James gave the letter to Fred and Oliver and they looked at it together.

Oliver finished reading first. "Wow, your dad's smart. He didn't directly answer your question, but you could tell he understood."

"I know. Dad's amazing."

Fred finally finished reading the letter and looked up. "So why doesn't Uncle Harry do anything to help? If he's head of the Aurors, why doesn't he make Moreau stop?"

"Er… I sort of told him not to interfere," James replied.

"Why would you do that?" Fred asked.

"We have everything under control," James replied. "We don't need my dad's help. And don't you want to do something on our own for once?"

Oliver hesitated. "I sort of agree with Fred. I mean, Moreau could be really dangerous, and you don't want to fool around just to have an adventure when you could possibly get hurt. But I also understand what you mean, James."

"What's done is done," James said. "There's no point in arguing with me, unless you want to send a letter to my dad yourself. Besides, it'll all be good by Easter."

"Whatever," Fred said. "I still think it's stupid." He looked diagonally across the table and spotted Katie Moore. "Hey, Katie?" he shouted. "Are you done eating?"

She nodded.

"Do you want to go to Herbology together, then?"

"Sure." Katie got up and Fred left with her. James couldn't help but snort.

"Why are you laughing?" Oliver asked curiously.

"No reason," James replied. "I just think Fred has to learn to refine his style. Calling across the hall… He has to stop that."

* * *

><p>"Today we are going to be battling boggarts," Professeur Rufus said. "Please take your wand and follow me. We will be going to a sixth floor classroom, where the headmistress has kindly placed a boggart for us to use."<p>

"Yes!" Scorpius said happily as the third-years left the room. After the Second Task, Professor McGonagall had given Rose, Scorpius, and Albus an option of returning to Hogwarts, but they had declined. They all liked it at Beauxbatons; there were so many new things and people. "I've been looking forward to a practical lesson!"

"I'm still going to do better than you," Rose replied.

"How?" Scorpius asked. "Everyone can defeat a boggart. That's easy. The hard part is doing it as funnily as possibly."

"That's not the hard part," Rose objected. "It doesn't have to be funny. It just has to work."

"No it doesn't."

"Yes it does. I read about them in _The Essential Defence Against the Dark Arts_," Rose replied. "You didn't."

"So? I know the theory, and that's all that matters." Rose and Scorpius bickered all the way to the sixth floor.

"We're here," Albus said, but his friends didn't seem to hear him. "Shut it!" he shouted. Rose and Scorpius immediately quieted down; it was rare for Albus to shout.

"Thank you, Mr. Potter," Professeur Rufus said. "Now that you are all quieted down…" Rose blushed; she hated angering a teacher. "We may begin working with the boggart. As you can see, we are in an unused classroom in the sixth floor. There is a boggart hiding in the front desk, as Boggarts enjoy closed spaces. Does anybody know what a boggart is?"

As usual, Rose's hand shot up first, followed by a few Beauxbatons', but to everyone's surprise, Scorpius's hand went up too. Professeur Rufus, who had never seen Scorpius's hand up before, called on him. "Yes, Malfoy?"

"A boggart is a creature that shows your greatest fear," Scorpius replied.

"Good, good. Now, the way to defeat a Boggart is by laughing at it. But, it's usually difficult to laugh at your worst fear, isn't it? So, there's a spell that helps. Repeat after me: _Riddikulus._"

"Riddikulus."

"Good. But, when you say the word, you must try to imagine your worst fear in an amusing form, or it won't work. I'll give you a demonstration."

Professeur Rufus went toward the desk. "Now, my worst fear are snakes. Don't laugh at that, it's normal for an old person to fear snakes. Anyway, when I open this drawer the Boggart should come out and turn into a snake. So what I should do is think of how I can transform a snake into something funny. Any suggestions?"

A Beauxbaton boy raised his hand. "Twist the snake so it gets into a knot?"

"Good idea." Professeur Rufus took out his wand and opened the drawer. A long green snake came slithering out of the desk toward the professor. Rufus pointed his wand at the snake and said, "Riddikulus." There was a crack and the snake was tied into a knot. Rose laughed along with the class, and the boggart retreated. Rufus pushed the Boggart, which was now wispy, like smoke, back into the dresser.

"So now, I want you all to think of your worst fears and how you could make it funny," Rufus said.

Rose thought about what her worst fear was. She wasn't sure. She didn't fear any animals; she loved them all. Rose remembered what her mother's boggart was in her third year—Professor McGonagall telling her that she failed all her exams. Was that her worst fear too? But how could she make it funny?

Before Rose could think, Professeur Rufus asked the class if they were ready to begin, and they all nodded. Rose tried to quickly think of something, even if it wasn't funny.

"Everyone, get in a line," Professeur Rufus commanded. Rose headed toward the back of the line with Albus and Scorpius. She needed time to think.

Then their teacher let the Boggart out. The first student, Daniel Leroy, walked up to the boggart, and it changed into a Bludger. Next to Rose, Scorpius snorted. "Who could be scared of Bludgers?" Scorpius whispered.

"Shut it, Scorpius," Rose said. "Be nice. People are scared of different things."

Leroy nervously walked up to the Bludger, which was aiming right toward his head, and said, "Riddikulus!"

Immediately, a smiley face appeared on the Bludger, which stopped moving. The third-years laughed, and the Bludger disappeared.

"Good job!" Professeur Rufus commented. "Next!"

Rose watched as the rest of the third-years confronted their fears and made them funny. Most of them had animals or objects; none of them had something silly, like a teacher telling them they failed a test.

Then it was Albus's turn. He faced the Boggart, which turned into a sharp knife that was pointing toward him. Rose watched, shocked, as Albus pointed his wand at the knife and calmly declared, "Ridikulus." The knife's blade changed into rubber.

Albus walked toward the back of the line quietly. "I never knew you were afraid of knives," Rose said.

Albus shrugged. "It happened when I was little. James threw a knife at me and it barely missed my neck. You should have seen Dad's reaction."

Rose sighed sympathetically, but turned to watch Scorpius' boggart. What it could be, she didn't know. Then the Boggart turned into a person. Rose stared at the Boggart-human. He was tall, with blonde hair, and looked a bit like Scorpius, except he looked extremely mad. Rose turned to her friend and saw that he was shaking.

"Riddikulus." The man was forced into a dress, wore makeup, and held a handbag. Although he looked ridiculous, Rose couldn't laugh after seeing Scorpius so terrified.

Rose went up to the Boggart next, and quickly changed her _Troll_ test into an _Outstanding _one, ignoring the snickers from all the other students. "Was that your Dad?" Rose asked Scorpius gently.

He nodded. "Yep, that was Draco Malfoy."

"Is he—" Rose hesitated. "Why is he your worst fear? What could your father do to you?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Scorpius replied, staring at the floor.

Rose didn't press the matter further. After the last few students battled the Boggart, Professeur Rufus congratulated all the students on their great performances and let them leave early to go to lunch. On the way down, Scorpius didn't say anything. Rose and Albus exchanged worried glances about their friend, but didn't ask.

Once they were at the lunch table, Scorpius ate as fast as he could and then left the room. "What's wrong?" Lucy asked, watching Scorpius leave. She was sitting across from Rose, while the Scamander twins and Louis were sitting nearby, talking to Albus.

"We faced the Boggart today," Rose said.

"Oh. I hated that," Lucy replied. "It was hard for all of us. Do you know what my Boggart is?"

"What?"

"I'm terribly frightened of heights," Lucy answered. "So my Boggart made itself into a high bridge with an ocean below. I never told anyone until that day. It's hard to be scared of heights when your family is obsessed with Quidditch."

"Yeah. Well, you'd never guess what my Boggart was," Rose said.

"You failed an exam?"

"How did you know?"

Lucy smiled. "Everyone knows that you care about your studies a lot, Rose. Obviously you'd worry about failing. So, what happened to Malfoy?"

Rose sighed. "His Boggart was his father. His very angry father."

"Oh." Lucy paused, thinking what to say. "Your parents told you about the war, right?"

Rose nodded. "Yeah. About how Scorpius's dad was part of the dark side. You know, when Al and I first became friends with Scorpius, Dad gave me a lecture about him when I got home. About how the Malfoys were evil and I shouldn't be friends with them. But I never listened. Because Scorpius is just so nice."

"Yeah," Lucy replied. "I know. I would never have said this before, but I feel bad for him. It must be hard, having a father like that. I just never believed that his father would do that. Did Scorpius tell you why he's scared of his father?"

"I asked him, but he wouldn't respond," Rose said. "I wonder what Draco could possibly do to him."

"Probably just shout at him, or maybe use some physical punishments," Lucy said thoughtfully. "But, you know, I thought Draco would have been a bit better after the war. Uncle Harry saved his life twice. I thought that would have had an effect."

"Well, it didn't," Rose said angrily. She sighed. "I feel bad for him too."

"Why don't you go find him?" Lucy suggested. "You're his best friend. It's in times like these that friends need each other."

Rose nodded. "I hope he isn't mad at me, though."

"Just talk to him calmly, and he won't be," Lucy said.

"Thanks." Rose got up and left the hall. She knew where Scorpius would be.

* * *

><p><strong>Thank you everyone for reading or reviewing!<strong>

**I know James was really stupid for telling his dad not to interfere, but it makes the story more interesting. And I know that this chapter wasn't too exciting, but it will get exciting soon. So please review! **


	24. Chapter 23

**So this chapter is a bit of a filler, but it was still fun to write. And it's loooooong. Nothing dramatic happens, but I hope you enjoy it! Oh, and by the way, the dots between the blanks are spaces. Just in case you couldn't figure out.  
><strong>

* * *

><p>Lucy watched Rose leave the hall to find Scorpius. She was glad that she could help someone.<p>

"Why is Scorpius so upset?" Lucy turned to see Lysander staring at her.

Lucy shrugged. She didn't think Scorpius wanted anyone else to know about his boggart; he would tell them if he really wanted to.

For once, Lysander didn't press the matter further. Like her Uncle Ron, Lysander could be a bit slow to get things, and Lucy was glad he didn't say anything this time.

"So, what do we have next?" asked Louis, not realizing that anything was wrong.

"History of Magic," Lucy replied.

Louis groaned. "At least I'll have somewhere to sleep."

Lucy glared at him. "Professeur Poullet isn't nearly as bad as Binns. You should make some effort to try."

"I just don't like history altogether," Louis replied. "Especially when they're talking about our parents. It's annoying."

Lucy had to agree a little; the fourth-years were covering the rise and fall of Tom Riddle, and they were currently studying when Harry Potter left school to hunt Horcruxes. She especially hated it when they talked about how her father, Percy, left the family to join the Ministry.

The four walked toward History of Magic, where the teacher, a woman in her thirties, was writing something on the front board. Louis entered first, and headed toward the back. Lucy and the Scamander twins followed. Normally, Lucy would have sat in the front row, but since they were discussing her family history, she sat the farthest away.

When the whole class had settled down, Professeur Poullet began. "So, who remembers where we were last class?"

A Durmstrang student raised her hand. "Bill and Fleur had just been married, and then the Ministry had been invaded by Death Eaters."

"Good." Professeur Poullet said. "Now, after the fall of the Ministry, Rufus Scrimgeour was killed. In his place was Pius Thicknesse, who was actually under the imperious curse. When that happened, the Ministry employees were still forced to go to work, and Harry Potter and his friends began their search for Horcruxes.

"So where did they go first?" Professeur Poullet asked.

A Beauxbatons student replied, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place?"

Professeur Poullet shook her head. "Before that."

Lucy put her hand up. She already knew all this. "They went to part of the Muggle World, but then Harry said You-Know-Who's name, which had been tabooed, so the Death Eaters found them. Then they went to Grimmauld Place."

"Excellent," Professeur Poullet. "So at Grimmauld Place, they planned to invade the Ministry of Magic, which, in the end, was successful. First…"

Lucy felt herself tuning out, for one of the first times ever. She didn't need to pay attention; she knew it all already. She would rather be back at Hogwarts, listening to Binns talking about Goblin Revolts, than hear her family's history again. Lucy started doodling on a piece of paper when Lysander slid a piece of paper onto her desk. Lucy picked it up.

_I'm bored._

Lucy wrote a reply. _Me too. I hate talking about the War. _

She passed the note to Lysander. _So why don't we play Hangman or something?_ He wrote.

Lucy felt bad as she replied, but Professeur Poullet wouldn't mind. Besides, she would get a high score on the exams anyway. _Sure. _She handed the note to Lysander, but Louis intercepted it. He wrote something on the paper, and then gave it back to Lysander. Lucy looked over at the paper. It read:

_ _ _ _ ... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ ... _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

There was a small space for the man to go, too. Lysander went first. _E?_

Louis filled in the blanks with all the available Es. It looked like this:

_ _ _ _ ... _ _ _ _ _ e _ ... _ _ _ _ _ _ e _

Lucy went next: _A?_

_ _ _ _ ... _ a _ _ _ e _ ..._ _ _ a _ _ e _

The game went on and on, with more letters being guessed. Eventually, the paper looked like this:

L _ _ _ ... _ a n _ i e _ ... L _ _ a n _ e r

_The last word is my name! _Lysander wrote.

_Yep. _Louis filled out the blanks, with all the letters in Lysander's name going towards the other two blanks as well.

L _ _ y ... _ a n _ i e s ... L y s a n d e r

Lucy took one look at the paper, understood what it implied, and ripped it in half.

_What did you do that for? _Wrote Lysander on another sheet of parchment.

_Solve the puzzle._ Lucy wrote.

_I can't. You ripped it off._

_ Ask Louis._

Lysander wrote something to Louis, and he wrote back. Lysander kicked him under the table.

"What?" asked Louis, a bit too loudly.

"Boys, please be quiet," said Professeur Poullet at the front of the room.

"Sorry," Louis replied. "Why'd you kick me?" he whispered to Lysander.

"Why did you think of that?" Lysander asked. "You know it's not true."

"Oh, it is true," Louis whispered back. Lysander kicked him again, but Louis ignored him.

_Louis is an idiot,_ wrote Lysander.

_I agree,_ Lucy wrote back. _Let's play our own game of hangman._

Hangman sustained them for the rest of the class, until the bell rang and they got up. "Louis, you're an idiot," Lysander said loudly.

"No, I'm not. You two are. You're in denial," Louis replied.

"Oh, shut it. I don't fancy Lysander." Lucy was the first out of the door when she bumped into Rose, who was standing by the door. "Oh, hi, Rose. Do you have History of Magic next?"

Rose nodded. Her nose was red, and she looked like she'd been crying.

"What's wrong?" Lucy asked. She told her friends to leave without her; she looked around and realized Rose was the only third-year there.

Rose shrugged. "Nothing."

"You look like you've been crying," Lucy said. "What's wrong? And why are you here so early?"

"Well, I took your advice and went to see Scorpius," Rose replied. "He was at the door to Transfiguration, our last class, as I had predicted. I asked him what was wrong, and he wouldn't reply."

"Oh."

"And then, in class, we were transforming teacups into tortoises. Mine was perfect, and Scorpius's wasn't, so he shouted at me for being so smart. I don't know why he did, but I shouted right back. And then he looked so sad and I felt guilty so I just ran away."

"Oh." Lucy wanted to comfort her cousin, but she wasn't sure what to say. "Where's Albus?"

"He's probably coming here," Rose replied. "I'm not sure who he sided with."

"Why don't you just apologize to Scorpius?" Lucy suggested. "Don't ask him anything about his father. Just say sorry."

Rose nodded. "I'll try that. Thanks, Lucy. You should probably be going to your next class."

"No problem. Good luck."

* * *

><p>Rose entered the classroom and sat in the middle. She waited for Al and Scorpius to enter.<p>

A few minutes later, they finally did. Rose took it as a good sign that Albus went to sit next to her, and Scorpius followed, sitting next to Albus. At least he didn't completely hate her.

Rose turned to Scorpius and hesitated. "Scorpius, I'm sorry for shouting at you." Scorpius didn't respond, but he looked up. "I didn't mean to shout; I was just really annoyed and I didn't mean to do it. I'm sorry about bothering you about your father. I know you don't want to talk about, and I kept on asking, so I'm sorry."

"No, it's my fault," Scorpius answered. "It was all me. I started it. I should have answered your questions… you didn't mean any harm, you were just curious. So I'm sorry."

"I forgive you," Rose said. "You forgive me?"

Scorpius nodded. "I do. I'm sorry. I just… my father is just a hard topic to talk about. You don't know what he's like."

"I don't," Rose replied. "But you can tell us if you want. We care."

Scorpius didn't reply. "I will tell you someday. But just not now."

Rose nodded. She understood. "So, are we friends again?"

Scorpius smiled. "We were always friends."

"Can you two please stop all this?" Albus asked, looking uncomfortable as he was in the middle of the two.

Scorpius grinned at Rose, but he stopped talking. Rose sighed in relief; at least her best friend wasn't mad at her anymore.

* * *

><p>March 9th was a special day for two reasons: it was Roxanne's birthday, and the following day, the 10th, was Fred's birthday. It was normal for siblings to have birthdays close together, and it was exciting celebrating two birthdays at once. And it was good that they didn't share the same exact birthday, or that day wouldn't be special.<p>

Dominique woke up on the fifth and saw a pile of presents at the bottom of Roxanne's bed. Molly and Charlotte were already awake. "Shh," Charlotte whispered. "We're going to surprise her when she wakes up."

The three crouched around Roxanne's bed. Charlotte shook her, and Roxanne opened her eyes. "Happy birthday!" the three shouted.

"Oh, thanks," Roxanne replied. She yawned, and then realized that there was a pile of presents at the side of her bed. Her eyes lit up, and she walked over and grabbed the closest present.

She opened it, and it was a shiny mirror. She looked at the card that was attached to it—Molly's. Roxanne gave her friend a hug. "You didn't need to give me this… I'm only turning sixteen, it's not that special."

"You're my friend, Roxanne. You deserve it," Molly responded.

Roxanne went to open the remaining presents: a diary from Dominique, some lip gloss from Charlotte, chocolate from her parents, other items from Roxanne's other relatives… Roxanne looked at the last present. It was small, and had a name on the wrapping paper: Jonathan White, Roxanne's boyfriend.

"Open it!" Dominique said.

Roxanne nodded and tore off the wrapping paper. Underneath was a small white box. She carefully removed the lid and stared at the inside. In the box was a beautiful silver necklace with a small, star charm. "It's beautiful," Roxanne said, putting it on. "I have to thank Jonathan."

Roxanne quickly got dressed and left the tent to find Jonathan. Dominique got ready too, and left the tent with Charlotte. "You got here a good present," Dominique said. "I doubt that Roxanne's actually going to write in the diary."

Charlotte shrugged. "You never know."

The rest of the day went by normally. Classes, homework, breaks… After dinner, Dominique headed back to the Gryffindor common room where all the students were relaxing or doing work. Dominique sat down and began doing her Herbology homework: the properties of Screechsnap.

She worked on her essay for a while when she was interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. "What?"

"Are you going to pull an all-nighter?" Charlotte asked. "Or at least stay up until midnight? The sixth-years were planning to stay up until the morning so Fred could celebrate his birthday at one in the morning."

"I'll probably stay up till one, then, if that's what everyone's doing," Dominique replied. "Are you?"

Charlotte nodded. "I'm trying to stay up the whole night, but that might not work."

"You should start your homework now," Dominique suggested.

Charlotte groaned. "Yeah, I probably should." She sat down next to Dominique, and they did their homework together. An while later, Dominique was interrupted again.

"What is it this time?"

"We're playing truth or dare," Rose said. "Do you want to play?"

"You're still awake?" Dominique wondered. "It's 10:30; you should be going to bed."

"I'm almost fourteen," Rose replied. "I can stay up this late."

"When are you going to bed, then? Twelve?"

Rose nodded. "Until tomorrow, so I can watch Fred annoy everyone with magic. So, are you playing?"

Dominique shrugged. "I might as well. I'm almost done with my homework." She and Charlotte got up and followed Rose toward the center of the common room, where the Weasleys and some friends were all gathered, in a circle.

"So you all know how to play?" James said. Most of them nodded; Scorpius and Charlotte shook their heads.

"Well, basically you ask someone truth or dare," James explained. "If they say truth, they have to answer a question truthfully. If they say dare, they have to do something the asker says. Get it?" They nodded. "Roxanne, since it's your birthday, you should go first."

"Okay. Truth or dare, Fred."

Fred thought for a moment. "Dare."

Roxanne smiled evilly. "I dare you to put your head in the toilet."

Fred shrugged. "I'll do that."

The whole group of Weasleys followed Fred to the bathroom, and watched as he put his head in the toilet. Fred got up, his head soaking, and smiled. "That wasn't too bad. I'll just take a good shower in the morning."

They returned to their spot on the floor of the common room. Fred turned to Lucy. "Lucy, truth or dare."

Dominique knew that if Fred ever asked her that question, she would immediately pick truth. She didn't want to know what Fred's dares could possibly be.

Lucy did the same. "Truth."

"Okay." Fred paused. "Who do you think is the most beautiful person here? By here, I mean whoever is playing truth or dare with us right now. And you have to chose somebody."

Lucy glared at him but looked around the circle. The people playing were James, Oliver, Fred, Katie, Roxanne, Jonathan, Dominique, Charlotte, Molly, Lucy, Lysander, Lorcan, Louis, Albus, Scorpius, and Rose. Lucy hesitated, unsure of who to say.

"Just pick somebody," Fred said. "It doesn't matter who it is. Anyone."

"Dominique," Lucy said. Dominique blushed. "And when I say that she's the most beautiful person here, I mean I think she's the prettiest. I mean, she's part- Veela."

"Thanks, Lucy," Dominique said. She didn't know if that was sarcastic, or what.

"Okay, my turn," Lucy said. "Truth or dare… Rose."

"Dare," Rose replied.

"I dare you to lick the floor."

"That's gross," Rose said. "Everyone's stepped here before."

"You have to do it," Lucy insisted.

"Alright." Rose took out her wand and whispered, "Tergeo," to the floor. Then she bent down and licked it. "You never said that I couldn't clean it."

Lucy made a face. "Fine."

"Alright, my turn next," Rose said. "Lysander, your turn. Truth or dare."

"Truth."

Rose smiled. She knew the perfect question to ask. "Lysander, who do you fancy?"

"Nobody," Lysander replied, a bit too fast.

James raised his eyebrows. "That's a lie. I can tell one when I hear it."

"Answer truthfully," Rose repeated. "Who do you fancy?"

Lysander sighed. "I wish I didn't join this game. But fine… I'll tell you. Lucy."

Lucy blushed furiously as the rest of the Weasleys laughed. "At least Dad won't be upset if you married him," James joked. "Since the Scamanders are good family friends."

"Shut it," Lysander said. "It's your turn, James. Truth or dare?"

James avoided the dare, since it was from an especially angered Lysander. "Truth. I don't really have any secrets, anyway."

"What do you worry about the most?"

James frowned. "I can't answer that. Not because I'm too embarrassed, but since I'm not allowed to tell. It's a secret."

"What?" Lysander asked.

"It's about the thing that we found during the Yule Ball," James replied.

"Oh," Lysander said. "Okay. I get it."

Their game continued for a while until it was almost midnight. When it was a minute before, everyone started counting down the time. "Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one… Happy Birthday!"

Fred smiled. "So I can finally do magic, right?"

"Yep. But there's no point in doing it now; we can all do magic too," James replied.

"Just wait until Easter," Fred said. "Then you're going to regret everything bad you've done to me."

Dominique yawned; now that it was March 5th, she decided she needed to go to bed. She got up and was about to leave the tent when Professor McGonagall entered. _This is not good,_ Dominique thought. She prepared for a lecture.

"What are all of you doing, still awake?" Professor McGonagall entered the common room, shouting. "It's nearly 1 am! You should all be going to bed, not making all this noise?"

"Sorry, Professor." James was the one to reply. "We were just staying up so we could celebrate Fred's birthday."

"Well, happy seventeenth," Professor McGonagall said. "But now, as it is already the 5th, would you all go to bed?"

"Sorry, Professor," James said. "We'll go to bed."

Professor McGonagall nodded, and left the room. Dominique wondered when James had gotten in charge of everything; he used to not care about anything. She supposed it was a combination of being the oldest, having to compete in the Triwizard Tournament, and whatever the letter she had to translate meant.

Dominique said good night to her family, and left the tent. She couldn't help overhearing James' conversation with Oliver.

"How did she know we're here?" That was James.

"She's Professor McGonagall. She knows everything."

"Yeah, but isn't it a bit suspicious that she came here?"

"Not really…"

"Maybe Moreau told her!"

"How in the world would Moreau know we were here?"

"I dunno. He has his own methods… Maybe he's an unregistered Animagus, like Rita Skeeter was!"

There was a pause, and then Oliver said, "I don't think so. There's no evidence at all for that. I think you're growing a bit paranoid, James. Before you know it, you're going to become Mad-Eye Moody."

Whatever that meant, Dominique quickly left the tent. At least she wasn't the only one noticing—James was getting strange.

* * *

><p><strong>Review if you figured out what the hangman puzzle was before Lysander found out! (Hint: the second word has an F and a C in it)<br>**

**And even if you didn't, review! Please?  
><strong>


	25. Chapter 24

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and guessed what the Hangman puzzle was! Sorry for updating a bit late; I was busy. Anyway, here is Chapter 24.**

* * *

><p>James stirred his potion without paying much attention. His mind was still on other things.<p>

"You're stirring it too many times," Oliver said. "It's only supposed to be ten stirs; you've done at least thirty."

"What?" James jolted out of his thoughts. He looked at his potion. At this stage, it was supposed to be lime-green. His was more of an olive green. "Oh, oops."

Fred laughed. "Nice, James."

"You shouldn't laugh. Look at your own potion."

Fred's potion was currently bright pink. "Yeah, well, your potion was going fine until you stirred it too much. Mine was always bad."

"True," James said. He was surprised Fred had even managed to get into NEWT Potions. He suspected it was only because their professor liked Fred. James attempted to fix his potion by stirring it in the opposite direction, but it didn't work. The potion just turned an even darker green.

"Time's up!" called the potions teacher. James groaned as he stared at his potion. He knew he would get an Acceptable at the highest; it was a big disappointment for him.

James put some of the potion into a test tube and went up to hand it in. Oliver's potion was, as usual, amazing. It was a bright green and bubbled like it was supposed to. James sighed as he handed in his potion.

"James, what's going on?" Fred asked as the three went to the Hall for dinner. "You've been acting really weird lately."

"Oh, just stress," James replied. "You know, with the third task coming and Moreau stalking me all the time…"

Fred shrugged. "If you say so. But honestly, I think you're worrying too much. You realize, if you just asked your dad to help, the trouble with Moreau would have been over."

"I told you, Fred, forget about it," James replied, annoyed. "I can't go back in time. Besides, it'll be Easter in three weeks, and everything will be good."

"Well, three weeks," Fred said. "Three weeks of worrying and failing your classes."

"Just quit arguing," Oliver interrupted. "It won't get anywhere."

James privately thanked Oliver for stopping their argument. He had a lot to worry about, and fighting Fred would have made it worse.

The three went to the Hall, where they had dinner. A few days ago, there had been an announcement that the sixth-years were to study Apparation. Their first lesson would be today, after dinner. James was looking forward to that, so he had something else to think about.

After dinner, when the rest of the students had left, the sixth years waited in the Hall. The tables and chairs had been vanished, and the Hall was now empty.

"Welcome!" James looked up to see an old man walking toward the center of the room. "My name is Ferrand Cross, and I will be your Apparation Instructor for the next few weeks. Now, apparation is a difficult thing to learn, but I am sure that after practice you all will manage.

"The Headmistress has kindly lifted the Anti-Disapparation Jinx on this room for an hour, so we should all enjoy it while we can. Now, would everyone please move around until they have three meters of space in front of them?"

All the students moved until they had space. James moved toward the back, so he could watch everyone. His father had led James side-along apparation a few times, and James had gotten used to the sensation after a while. He didn't tell anyone, but had tried apparating a few times at home, just for fun. Nothing happened, but he had felt a slight tingling sensation. He thought that today, if he put some effort in, he would be able to manage to Apparate.

"So is everyone settled?" asked the Instructor. They all nodded. "Excellent!" He waved his wand and hoops appeared in front of all the students. "So now, you must learn to apparate. What you must focus upon are the three D's: Destination, Determination, Deliberation. You must focus on your destination, you must used determination, and you must turn with deliberation!"

_I know,_ James said impatiently in his head. His dad had told him this before. He was eager to start practicing.

"So, on the count of three, I want you all to turn on the spot, concentrating on the three D's. Ready, set, go!"

James watched as all the students around him turned and nothing happened. He closed his eyes and concentrated hard on the three D's. It would be a record if he managed to apparate on his first attempt; none of his relatives had ever done that before.

James turned, focusing hard. Nothing happened. Instructor Cross didn't look disappointed, he just watched. "How about a second try? You must focus hard! Think with determination!"

So James tried. He turned with such determination and deliberation that he forgot all about the destination, and ended up on the opposite side of the hall. James gasped. He had managed to Apparate successfully on his second attempt! He looked down at his body for any missing parts. Then he saw that the fingernail on his right thumb had vanished. The feeling of not having a fingernail was strange.

James looked around. He was, for some reason, behind the Staff table, so nobody could see him. He peered around, and saw that Instructor Cross was right in front of him, watching the students fail at Apparating again. Then he turned and saw Moreau, who, like usual, was wherever James was.

Monsieur Moreau was scanning the crowd, almost as if he had a magical eye, and then turned around and went toward the exit of the hall in the back of the room. James hesitated, debating what to do, then went with his instinct. He could get his fingernail back later, but now was the only chance he had of following Moreau. He made sure everyone was too busy apparating to notice, and then ran toward the exit. He opened the door and saw Moreau walking down the hall.

Looking around to make sure nobody was following, James quietly followed Moreau. If only he had his invisibility cloak, everything would be perfect. But he didn't have it, so he would just have to be extremely careful. If Moreau turned around at all, his plan would be ruined. Not that he had a plan.

Moreau went up a flight of stairs and then stopped, all of a sudden. James quickly ducked behind a statue, in case Moreau turned around. Moreau looked around, but, assuming nobody was following him, went into the boy's bathroom.

James let out a sigh of relief; Moreau was just going to the bathroom, nothing else. But that couldn't be the case… there were plenty of bathrooms on the first floor. Why would he have to use this one? James debated what to do, then opened the door of the bathroom. If Moreau caught him, he would just lie and say he had to go to the bathroom. There was nothing wrong with that.

James took a deep breath and pushed open the door. He held it open a crack, and then peered over the side of the door. He was surprised and curious at what he saw.

Moreau was tapping his wand on the far wall in some pattern. When he finally finished tapping, he put his wand to his side and waited, looking around to make sure there was nobody there. James closed the door for a second so Moreau wouldn't see him. Then he opened it again.

James gasped. The blank wall had separated in half, and both sides were rotating 90 degrees. When they had fully turned, there was now a blank space in that wall. Then something slowly came out from the darkness.

It was a tray. There were small objects on the tray as well, but James couldn't see what it was. Moreau picked one up. James couldn't make it out the best, but it was small, round, and red, like a berry. Like a berry…

James realized what it was and quickly closed the door before Moreau saw him, dashing away from the bathroom and running back to the Hall.

"Where have you been?" Oliver asked as James returned to the Hall, through the back door. "You were here one minute, and then you were gone the next!"

"I'll tell you later," James replied. He went to his old spot and picked up his fingernail. He wasn't sure what to do with it, so he just put it on his thumb, even though it didn't fit together. When Instructor Cross told everyone to apparate again, James turned. This time, however, he focused on all three D's. He turned, and appeared in the hoop. He didn't lose any body parts this time.

Oliver stared openmouthed at James. "How did you do it?"

James shrugged. "I don't know."

After Instructor Cross fixed James's fingernail and fussed about how talented he was at apparating, James told his friends about what had happened. Fred and Oliver both looked interested at James's description of the secret room in the boy's bathroom, and even more curious at the weird red object.

"So you're thinking that it's a Fierberry," Oliver said. "Aren't you?"

James nodded. "I think so. I just have to find out for sure."

"Wow, James," Oliver said. "Your life just gets more and more interesting, doesn't it? What were the chances of you apparating over there just as Moreau left the room and decided to go to that bathroom?"

"Pretty high," James replied. "I've been practicing apparating for a while, and Moreau only left because I wasn't there."

"You practiced apparating before? Isn't that illegal?"

"Er… I didn't think so."

* * *

><p>While the Easter holidays grew closer and closer, the amount of homework grew greater and greater. Luckily for Rose, the smartest student it her year, she managed to do all her homework easily, and watched Albus and Scorpius suffer while she relaxed.<p>

"Why can't I just copy your essay?" Albus whined one evening, doing his History of Magic essay while Rose read one of her favorite books again.

"I told you, you'll never learn if you just copy," Rose replied. "And besides, the teacher will know I let you copy if we have the same essay."

"I'd change it up a bit, obviously," Albus retorted, but Rose didn't give in. She returned to reading her book.

"All Weasleys or Potters, we're having a family meeting!" Rose looked up from her book again to hear James shouting about a family meeting.

She groaned. "I can only read one page at a time without getting interrupted."

"I wonder why James wants a family meeting," Albus wondered. "We'd better go. Scorpius, do you want to come.

"Nah, it's a family meeting; I don't want to intrude," Scorpius replied. "I need to work on this, anyway."

Rose shrugged, and then followed Albus to where James was sitting with their other cousins. "Why are having a family meeting?"

"You'll find out later," James replied. "When everyone gets here."

"Do you want us to watch the sixth floor again?" asked Dominique.

"What?" Rose asked. "What do you mean by again?"

James glared at Dominique. "Thanks for telling them."

"Telling us what?" Albus asked. "What are you all talking about?"

"Oh, James just asked us to watch the sixth floor before the first task," Dominique replied. "It was a long time ago."

Rose was still suspicious, but she didn't say anything as the rest of the family got to the Weasley's section of the common room. Lucy and Louis appeared, and sat down on a couch.

"Okay, well, since everyone's here, I just wanted to confirm who's going home for Easter. And if anyone of you want to bring guests, you can, as long as Grandma agrees with it." James said.

Rose was relieved. The family meeting wasn't about anything complex or strange; it was just about Easter.

"I need to tell Grandma Molly and make sure," James explained. "Since nobody else is doing it, and I'm one of the oldest, I guess I'd make sure."

"Hey, are you saying I'm irresponsible?" Fred asked.

"I didn't say anything about that," James said. "Anyway, so far I have me, Fred, Oliver, and Albus."

Rose looked at Albus in surprise. "He asked me one day, and I said yes," Albus replied. "So what?"

"So who else is going home?" James asked.

"Albus and I already told our parents that we were going home," Rose said. "I didn't know we had to tell you."

James shrugged. "So you're going home too, Rose?"

She nodded.

"Any guests?"

"Maybe," Rose said. "I have to ask later."

"So that's a maybe," James said. "What about the rest of you?"

Dominique, Roxanne, and Molly all agreed. "Charlotte has to go home," Dominique said, referring to her best friend. "She can't come."

James nodded. "So what about you two?" He motioned to Lucy and Louis.

"Can Lorcan and Lysander come?" Lucy asked. "Their parents could come too, and we could have a big reunion."

"I guess so," James replied. "Luna's a good family friend, and she helped a lot in the war. So I think that would be nice. Did you ask if she wanted to come?"

"Not yet," Lucy admitted. "But I asked the twins if they wanted to come, and they agreed. I'll tell them to send a letter to their parents later."

"Okay. So, so far I have me, Fred, Oliver, Domininque, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, Louis, Lorcan, Lysander, and probably their parents, Rose, Albus, and maybe a friend."

"What about Lily and Hugo?" Lucy said. "You forgot them."

"Well, they're back at Hogwarts, so I guess they'll tell their parents themselves," James replied. "Okay, family meeting over. Rose, you'd better ask who you want to ask soon."

Rose nodded, and returned to her seat. "Hey, Scorpius, do you want to come to The Burrow for Easter? Our whole family and some friends are coming."

"No thanks," Scorpius replied. "I'm just going to stay here at Beauxbatons during Easter. My parents are going to Italy during Easter, and they wrote to me telling me to stay at Beauxbatons."  
>"Well, why don't you just come to our home?" Albus asked. "If you're going to stay here anyway, it's not like your parents want you to go to their house."<p>

"No, I'll just stay here," Scorpius said. "I don't think my parents would want me to go to your home anyway. My family and yours don't really get along. I have a feeling if I sent them a letter, asking, they'd say no."

"Well, we still have one week, so why don't you send them a letter just in case?" Rose suggested. "If they say yes, then you get to come. If they say no, then nothing happens."

Scorpius shook his head. "My dad gets angry even hearing the Weasleys' name. You should have heard him when I got into Gryffindor… I hated that whole summer. If I went to your home, I would never want to see my parents again."

"Scorpius," Rose said gently. "Remember when you said one day you'd tell us why you're scared of your dad?"

Scorpius sighed. "Well, in reality he's actually not that bad. It's just when I do really stupid things, like get into Gryffindor or become friends with his worst enemy's children, he gets really angry. I mean, he doesn't hit me or do anything physical. It's just the way he stares at me, and the speech that sometimes accompanies it. He makes me feel like I disappointed him. And I just hate that. Because I don't think my dad is proud of me."

"Oh," Rose and Albus said together.

"I know, it's stupid for me to feel that, but… I don't know, it's a long story. I mean, usually my dad is a really good father. And he is. It's just, I don't think my dad's ever been proud of me."

"So, right now you're just trying to live up to your father's expectations?" Albus questioned. "You're trying to be the good child, who doesn't go off with his friends and have a good time?"

"Scorpius," Rose said. "I'm sure your father wouldn't mind you having some fun. After all, you are his only child. Just write to him, and I'm sure he wouldn't say anything. I can always get my dad or Uncle Harry to write back."

Albus nodded. "Yeah. I mean, you're thirteen already, almost fourteen. In three years you'll be of age, an adult. You should start standing up to your parents, not trying to always do what they want you to do. Have you ever heard of Sirius Black?"

"Of course," Scorpius replied. "His whole family hated him."

"Yep," Albus said. "His whole family was in Slytherin, but he ended up in Gryffindor. And he had fun there. In his sixth year, he ran away from home. Do you know what his mom did? He burned his name off their family tapestry, which is basically saying that he's not part of the family anymore. But did Sirius care? No."

"Thanks for telling me this," Scorpius said.

"So are you going to write to your parents?" Rose asked. "Please?"

Scorpius sighed. "Alright."

Rose watched as he pulled out a piece of paper and began writing a letter. She just hoped that his father said yes.

* * *

><p><strong>I know I exaggerated a bit about James apparating so soon—is it even possible for somebody to apparate on his second try? Well, I guess it's possible. It let James find the fierberries! And the part about Scorpius... he is only thirteen, so he has to be scared of his father a little.<br>**

**The next chapter is going to take place at Easter, back at The Burrow, where the whole family is reunited! :)**

**Please review!**


	26. Chapter 25

The noise of all the students excited at leaving school was loud. James could barely hear the person next to him. Since there were three different schools, each would have its own method of transportation to get back home. For the Hogwarts students, they would take the Hogwarts Express back to Hogwarts, pick up the younger students, and then go for Kings' Cross. It would be a long journey, but at least they got to go home.

"Potter!" James looked back and saw Professor McGonagall shouting his name. "Please see me for a minute."

"What did I do?" James asked his friends. Fred shrugged.

James ran in the opposite direction of the students back toward Beauxbatons. "Yes?" he asked the headmistress apprehensively.

"No, you're not in trouble, if that's what you're wondering," McGonagall said. "At least not with me. But somebody wants a word with you." She pointed toward the door to the Hall.

James walked toward it and opened the door. The Hall was so empty it was weird.

"Over here." James turned to see his worst nightmare sitting at the staff table.

"What do you want?" James asked. "Make it quick. I don't want to miss the train."

Monsieur Moreau laughed. "You won't miss the train. I'll be quick."

"Go ahead."

"How many times do I have to remind you of manners?" Moreau said. "Manners are very important… very important. Well, I just want to make sure that you don't tell anyone about what you discovered on the sixth floor."

"Why not?" James asked.

"Because that letter was a secret between me and a friend," Moreau replied. "You weren't meant to see it, and neither were your cousins. You weren't even meant to find the room."

"A friend? The letter didn't sound like that person was a friend. He sounded like he was threatening you. And besides, I already did tell many people. My friends, and some of my cousins."

"I know you did," Moreau said. "I don't care if your friends know. They aren't important. But don't tell your parents."

"Why not? You can't control what I do!"

"I can, Potter, because I am a judge in the Triwizard Tournament," Moreau said. "And I have lots of contacts in the Ministry. If you tell someone, I will make sure that you definitely do not win the tournament."

James glared at the man. "Why do you hate me so much?"

"Because you found that letter and the secret room!"

"No," James said. "My name was on that letter even before you knew I had found the room. There's some other reason."

"Mind your own business, boy," Moreau said. "It doesn't concern you. Oh, and just in case you thought you were smart, I know you contacted your father. But he can't do anything. And you won't tell him about this meeting, will you?"

James shook his head.

"Good, you're learning," Moreau said. "Now leave, before the train leaves."

James left the room and ran back onto the train, and told Fred and Oliver everything.

* * *

><p>Lily stood outside the Hogwarts castle with Layla, waiting for the Hogwarts express to come. Elena and Olivia were staying at Hogwarts for Easter break, since they had gone home during Christmas. Layla and her mother were planning to go to The Burrow with Lily, since her father had to stay at Hogwarts.<p>

"There it is!" Lily pointed to the train, which was rolling into view. She waited for it to come to a stop, then got onto it.

"Where do you want to sit?" Layla asked. "The compartments look like they all have people in them."

"Let's find our old compartment," Lily said, and the two of them walked toward it. Lily opened the compartment door and saw some seventh years sitting there. "Oh, sorry."

"Nice," Layla said. "Let's go sit with some random seventh-years!"

"Why don't you find a compartment, then?"

Layla shrugged. "I don't know. Why don't we just sit with your cousins?"

Lily sighed. "I guess so." The Potters were known to hold long grudges, and Lily still hadn't gotten over her grudge against Rose and Albus. "But I'm warning you, the compartment's going to be crowded."

"That doesn't matter." Lily and Layla started walking down the aisle of the train, looking into every compartment to try to find the Weasleys.

"Found them!" Layla said a few minutes later.

Lily walked over and opened the compartment door, where some of her cousins were sitting, crowded together. Every compartment was meant for only eight people, but there were more than eight sitting there. James, Fred, Oliver—a friend who had been to Lily's house multiple times—Dominique, Roxanne, Molly, a friend of Dominique's that Lily had seen before, and two other boys who Lily had never seen were talking and laughing together.

"Hi, Lily!" James said, seeing the door open. "How was school?"

"Good," Lily replied. "Wow, you seem crowded."

"Yeah," James responded. "There's not exactly space for you to sit, sorry. Albus and Rose are next door, though, if you want to sit with them."

"Thanks," Lily said, and closed the door.

"Was that your whole family?" Layla asked. "That's a lot of people."

"Nope, that's not all of them," Lily said. "There's more." She slid open the door to the compartment next to the one holding her oldest cousins. Inside sat Rose, Albus, Scorpius, Louis, Lorcan, Lysander, and Lucy. They were talking too.

Lucy looked up and saw Lily and Layla. "Hey. Do you want to sit with us? I know there's not much space, but, you're small, so you'll fit."

"Thanks," Lily said, and walked into the compartment. She and Layla sat down next to Scorpius, where there was an open spot.

"Are these all your siblings?" Layla whispered to Lily.

"No, not all of them," Lily replied. She pointed to each of them as she said their names. "That's Albus, my brother, Rose, my cousin, Scorpius, a friend of theirs, Lucy, a cousin, Louis, another cousin, Lorcan, a friend of theirs, and Lysander, another friend. Those two happen to be twins."

Layla nodded, processing it.

"What's your name?" Rose asked politely.

"Layla Longbottom," Layla replied.

"Oh! You're Neville's daughter?"

"Yep."

The tension in the compartment decreased suddenly for some reason and they all started talking again. "So, you're good friends with Albus and Rose?" Lily asked Scorpius, trying to make conversation.

He nodded. "Best friends. But in a competitive sense too. Rose and I compete to be the best in everything."

"Huh. So are you coming to the Burrow too?"

"Yeah," Scorpius replied. "They were nice enough to invite me."

"Lily and Layla," Lucy said. "We were playing truth or dare before you came. I mean, we had about seven hours to do nothing, and we'll have another five hours now, so we got really bored. We were in the middle of this game. Want to play?"

They agreed, and they starting playing. Lily realized that her family was really quite friendly, to her and to Layla. They got bored of truth or dare after a while and just talked. Finally, after a few long hours, the train stopped at Hogwarts Express.

Lily got up and stretched, tired of being crowded in-between Layla and Scorpius. The nine students got off the train, looking for their parents.

"Daddy!" Lily spotted her father and mother standing nearby and ran toward her dad. She hugged him hard. "I missed you so much."

"Me too, Lily," Harry replied.

"I missed you too," Lily said, turning to her mother. She gave her a hug.

"You're still your daddy's little girl, aren't you?" Ginny asked.

Lily nodded. "Remember I told you I'd bring Layla home? This is Layla." Her friend walked over and shook hands with her parents.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Potter," Layla said politely. "Nice to meet you."

"You don't need to be so formal," Ginny said. "You can call us Ginny and Harry."

Layla nodded. "Thanks for letting me come."

"Oh, don't thank us," Ginny said. "Thank Grandma Molly and Grandpa Arthur. We're going to be staying at their home anyway."

Layla nodded and turned around, spotting her mother. She ran toward her and hugged her. Lily smiled and turned away to see Uncle Ron and Rose in an argument. Ron was shouting something at Rose, and she was shouting back. Scorpius was looking awkward.

Nearby, James was talking to his father about something, and they were deep in conversation. All of Rose's cousins were reuniting with their family.

Ginny looked at her watch. "Whoa, it's almost seven; we should head back before Molly starts worrying and her food gets cold. Lily, would you help me get everyone to stop talking?"

"Sure." Lily walked over to Ron and Hermione, who were close by. Rose and Ron had stopped arguing, and now there was just an awkward silence. Lily coughed loudly to get their attention.

"What?" Rose asked grumpily.

"We're leaving now," Lily said. "To Molly's house. So hurry now."

"Thanks for telling us," Hermione said. "How was your term, Lily? Did you have fun? Make new friends?"

"Hogwarts is great," Lily replied. "I brought along a friend who you can meet later. I have to go tell everyone else to leave now, though." She went along and shouted at George and Percy to leave.

Lily, Albus, and James sat in Harry and Ginny's car as it drove along to The Burrow. It zoomed along at high speed, and Lily sat next to the window, watching the trees blur by. "Are we there yet?" Lily asked.

"Almost," Ginny said as they turned off the freeway and drove onto a bumpy road. The road seemed quite empty, and every now and then there was a house. Lily knew where they were; her grandma's home was close by.

Harry drove the car into a long driveway that led toward The Burrow. As soon as the car stopped moving, Lily opened the door and jumped up. "I've missed this place," she said, and looked around the yard. She spotted a gnome staring at her and Lily ran toward it. "I've missed you, gnome." The gnome stared at her and then ran away.

"Lily, don't annoy the gnomes." Lily was surprised to hear her oldest brother's voice. "They can be violent and even bite you."

"I know, James." Lily returned to the driveway and saw another car appear. Layla and her mom were sitting in it. Lily rushed up to their car and watched Layla come out. She showed her friend the way to the house. "This is The Burrow."

"Whoa. It's quite… tall," Layla said, at a loss for a better adjective.

Lily laughed. "I know. I love this place. Wait till you get inside." She ran up the path toward the house and knocked on the door.

Grandma Molly came over and opened the door. "Hello Lily! You're the first one back! How did you like Hogwarts?"

"It was really fun," Lily said. She gave Grandma Molly a hug and entered the building. "This is Layla." She pointed toward her friend.

"Hello," Molly said politely.

"Thanks for letting me come to your house," Layla said. "I hope it's not too much trouble."

"Oh, no, of course not," Molly said. "It was no trouble, no trouble at all." She turned around and walked toward the kitchen. "Oh, I think the chicken's ready!"

"Do you need any help?" Lily asked. She stared around and saw the clock on the wall, which had a picture of all the Weasleys. There was a hand that belonged to her name that was currently pointing to 'home.'

"No, I'm fine," Grandma Molly said. "Why don't you show Layla where you're going to sleep tonight? In Ginny's old bedroom."

Lily nodded and led Layla up the stairs. The Easter Holidays only lasted for a few days, and the Weasleys/Potters were spending it together at The Burrow. "Um, Lily, I think that my mum and I are going home tonight," Layla said. "Back to our house."

"Oh, okay," Lily said. "That's fine. Well, do you want to see our room?"

Layla nodded and they walked up the stairs toward Ginny's old room. "This is where Rose, Lucy, and I usually stay," Lily said, pointing toward the room. "It's really small and cozy, but it's nice." Lily put her trunk down and left the room. "I'll show you the rest of the house."

She led Layla up and down the stairs, toward Ron's old room, where Hugo and Albus stayed, toward Fred and George's old room, where James and Fred II stayed, toward Percy's room, where Dominique, Roxanne, and Molly stayed. Lily felt a sense of nostalgia as she walked up and down the stairs. This building had a sense of history.

"Dinner's ready!" Lily ran down the stairs where the whole family was now gathered. She realized that, at Hogwarts, she had felt a bit lonely. Now, the whole family was reunited once again.

Lily got into a seat next to James, while Grandma Molly was charming the food to fly toward the table and settled down. Once everyone was sitting, they started eating, while talking about Hogwarts. Lily told her brother about all her classes, while James told her about the Triwizard Tournament. Their whole family was having a great time.

* * *

><p>Lucy was feeling really awkward. She was sitting in-between Louis and Luna Scamander. Luna was talking to Lucy's father about magical creatures, while Louis was looking down at his plate, eating fast. Lucy was doing the same. There were too many people around, and she felt self-conscious.<p>

"So how do you like Hogwarts?" Luna asked Lucy. Percy had turned around to talk to another adult.

"Er, it's good, I guess," Lucy replied. She didn't know what to say to Lysander's mom. Luna was known to be really relaxed and imaginative, but it was still awkward.

"What's your favorite class?"

"Charms," Lucy replied.

"I loved Care of Magical Creatures," Luna said. "Except with Hagrid, we didn't learn much."

"Hagrid's a great teacher!" Lucy said. "He's the best."

"No, I didn't mean to say he was bad," Luna replied. "But when I had him he was knew to teaching, so I don't think he got into his routine yet."

"Oh, okay." Lucy attempted to have a conversation with Luna, but it didn't go so well. Luna had a big imagination and had different interests from Lucy, who was more down-to-Earth. Lucy liked Luna, but she was _different._

When everyone finished their meal, Luna went to help Grandma Molly with the dishes, while the rest of the children relaxed. Lucy sat down on a couch, and, to her surprise, Rolf Scamander sat down next to her. _Oh, this is going to be awkward,_ Lucy thought.

"Hello," Rolf said to her.

"Hi, Mr. Scamander," Lucy said politely. Newt was tall, with short brown hair and brown eyes. He looked a bit like a salamander.

"Please call me Rolf," the man said. "There's no need to be polite."

Lucy nodded, unsure of what to say.

"Lysander's said a lot about you," Rolf continued.

"Really?"

"Yep," Rolf said. "Every summer. About how you're really smart, and great at everything."

"Oh, no, that's not true," Lucy replied. She made a mental note to shout at Lysander the next time she saw him.

"Really? Your parents are both quite bright, so you must be too."

"Er…"

"I'm sorry, I'm being really rude right now," Rolf said. "I didn't mean to embarrass you. So, you must know, but I'm Rolf Scamander, Lorcan and Lysander's father."

"I know," Lucy said. "I've read all your books. I can't believe you've really met all those creatures."

"Oh, it was an exciting adventure," Rolf said. "But it took a long time…"

Lucy and Rolf got into a deep discussion about magical creatures, and Lucy decided that she liked him. He seemed more realistic, and quite intelligent.

"Is my dad annoying you?" Lysander appeared in front of Lucy.

"Of course not," Lucy replied. "We're having a conversation about Fire Crabs. They're quite interesting, you know."

"Sure," Lysander said. "Well, just to let you know, your grandma said that your room was ready if you wanted to unpack your trunk."

Lucy nodded. "I'll be there in a minute." She turned to Mr. Scamander. "It was nice to meet you." She extended her right hand, and Rolf shook it.

"Nice to meet you too."

Lucy got up and ran after Lysander, who was heading up the stairs. "Your dad said that you've been talking about me the whole summer."

Lysander turned red. "Did her really say that? Ugh… I'll have to tell my dad to stop talking about me all the time."

"So you actually did talk about me during the summer?"

"A little," Lysander said. "Not that much."

"Sure," Lucy said sarcastically. "Well, your dad is really nice."

Lysander groaned. "I thought my dad was annoying."

Lucy shrugged. "I liked talking to him. Anyway, see you later, Lysander." She had arrived at Ginny's room.

"See you later."

Lucy opened the door to Ginny's old room and spotted Rose and Lily already in there, but, oddly, they weren't talking to each other.

"Hi," Lucy said.

"Oh, hey, Lucy," Rose said.

"What's up with you two?" Lucy asked. "Are you two fighting?"

"I don't know," Rose said. "Lily just won't talk to me, for some reason."

Lucy turned to Lily. "Why not?"

Lily crossed her arms. "Because she was an idiot."

"What? Me? When?" Rose said, irritated.

"Because you and Albus and Scorpius left me alone at Hogwarts while the three of you went off to Beauxbatons!"

"Oh, that," Rose said. "That was a long time ago."

"Yeah, well, you then decided to stay at Beauxbatons after the Second Task, too."

"Well, um…"

"I think I'll leave you two alone," Lucy said, and closed the door. She went back downstairs, and relaxed on a couch.

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><p><strong>AN: Do you think this story is going too slow? Should I just go directly to the third task without all these fillers?  
><strong>

**Anyway... 2 more reviews until 100! I'll give a virtual cookie to whoever submits the 100th review!**

**And no updating tomorrow... sorry.**


	27. Chapter 26

**Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Review #100 was from some anonymous user who didn't leave a name... whoever it is, here's a virtual cookie! But thank you to _everyone_ who reviewed.  
><strong>

**I have to thank Yellowtail555 for giving me the idea of the Third Triwizard Task. Also, to Miss R.E. Mulvey, I promise there will be a waterslide in the task, I just didn't mention it yet.**

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><p>"Hey, James, can I have a word with you?"<p>

It was the Saturday before Easter, and the family was playing Quidditch together outside. James's team had just beat Fred's, and they were taking a break before another game.

"Uh, yeah, sure." James knew his dad would eventually ask to talk with him, and the time finally came.

"Come inside," Harry said. The rest of the family was outside, so Harry led James inside so they could have some privacy, James supposed.

Harry sat down on a chair, and James sat next to him. "So, what are you wondering?"

Harry frowned. "You know. The letter you sent me."

"Oh. That."

"Yes, that. When you sent me that letter, I understood the code right away. It was a very good one, by the way."

James didn't say anything.

"But, please, tell me more. Who is the person that's following you?"

"I'm not supposed to tell," James said. "That person told me not to tell anyone."

Harry leaned forward and stared at James in the eye. "Do you think that person can really see you right now?"

James shrugged. "I don't know… maybe."

"James, why did you write to me in the first place, then?"

"It didn't seem as important back then," James replied. "He never said anything about me not being allowed to tell you."

"When was that?"

"Yesterday… right before I got on the train," James said.

"And what did he say he would do if he somehow found out that you told me about him?" Harry asked.

"He said he'd help the other champions so they'd win the Triwizard Tournament." James didn't like where this conversation was going. His dad could be very persuasive sometimes.

"James…" Harry paused, thinking. "Your mother and I care about you a lot. We don't want you to be worried, or hide anything from us. That person who apparently said he was watching you cannot watch you right now. How would he be able to?"

"Okay, maybe he can't," James said. "But I don't want you to interfere. I can get something done on my own."

"I promise I won't do anything to interfere," Harry said. "At least, not until it gets really dangerous."

"It's not," James said. "So promise you won't do anything if I tell you?"

"I promise," Harry agreed.

"Okay." Then James told his father everything. About the secret room on the sixth floor. About the letter that had his name in it. About the bathroom with the Fierberries.

After all that, Harry sat back in his chair. "Wow," he said. "That's a lot of stuff to worry about for a sixteen-year-old."

James glared at his father. He thought he'd be more helpful.

"So, if I understand correctly, Moreau is being threatened by somebody else to watch you. And he helped the other champions."

James nodded. "I don't even know why. I'm so confused right now. Why does Moreau hate me so much? I didn't do anything."

Harry sighed. "James, I am so sorry for putting you into this situation. I know how stressful it can be."

"It's not your fault," James said. "You didn't do anything."

"No." Harry shook his head. "I think this is all related to me. See, you're my son, and I'm pretty sure there are lots of people out there who hate me. This Moreau person hasn't done anything to actually harm you, besides giving you low scores. I think he's just trying to bother you and make you lose the Triwizard Tournament, and he's doing that _because _you're my son."

"But what about the letter? That sounded serious."

"It's probably fake," Harry said. "Moreau probably forged it to make you worried."

"No." James was really angry right now. His father wasn't taking him seriously. "That's not it! You don't understand!"

"I do, James, I really do. But right now, the world is good. There aren't any Death Eaters or people who want to harm you. Moreau just doesn't want you to win, that's it."

"No, that's not it," James shouted back. "You haven't seen that Moreau guy! He's creepy! He follows me everyone! Someone wouldn't do that for fun!" James glared at his father again and left the room. He was really mad now —even his father wouldn't listen to him. He would be glad when school resumed.

* * *

><p>The family Easter hadn't been too fun. James and his father weren't talking to each other, the only interaction between Rose and Ron were glares, and Lily still wouldn't look at Albus or Rose. Dominique had talked with her parents a bit, but her sister, Victoire, seemed to be spending all her time with Teddy. They were now officially dating, and Victoire never even glanced at her sister. Dominique missed her friends—Charlotte, Clara, Oliver. She just wanted to go back to school. She wasn't the only one.<p>

The only people that actually seemed to like it at The Burrow were Lucy, Louis, and the Scamander twins. They were having a grand old time, and when it was finally time to go back to school, they were upset.

After a long, five-hour ride, the Hogwarts Express landed at Hogwarts. The students were given a 10-minute-break before the train would leave again for Beauxbatons. Dominique, Roxanne, and Molly entered Hogwarts and walked around. Dominique decided to go to the Gryffindor common room.

"Password?" asked the Fat Lady.

"Er…" Dominique didn't know. She looked around for any Gryffindors walking by.

"Excuse me?" Dominique approached a student walking by, who looked like he was in 2nd year. "Are you a Gryffindor?"

The boy nodded.

"Do you know the password to the Gryffindor common room? We're all Gryffindors too, but we had to go to Beauxbatons, so we just came back to visit, but nobody told us the password.

The boy looked scared as he looked at the three fifth years. "I'm not supposed to tell…" he said nervously, and ran off.

"Well, that went well," Molly said.

"Why don't you try, then, if you're so good?" Dominique demanded.

"Fine, I will." She took out her prefect badge and held it up while walking toward the nearest student. "Are you a Gryffindor?"

The student shook her head. "No, sorry. Hufflepuff."

It took Molly a few more students until she found a Gryffindor. "Hi, I'm a Prefect from Gryffindor House but I just went home for Easter so I don't know what the password was. Do you know?"

The student nodded. "It's Hungarian Horntail."

"Thanks." Molly strode back to the Fat Lady and said the password. The Fat Lady swung back to let her in.

"See, I managed," Molly said.

"You don't need to rub it in," Dominique replied. She walked up to the girls' dormitories and headed toward the fifth years' section. It looked so empty and lonely, and all the beds were bare.

"We should be heading back," Roxanne said, entering the room. "We don't want to miss the train."

Dominique nodded and walked toward her old bed. She glanced around, and then followed Roxanne out the door toward the train.

* * *

><p>Rose was angry. At Lily, her dad… even Albus, who had sided with Lily in their argument about staying at Beauxbatons. It seemed like she was mad at everyone except Scorpius. She just felt bad for him.<p>

Rose recalled saying good-bye to her family at Platform 9 and 3/4s. Scorpius and Albus had got onto the Hogwarts Express already, but her father had asked her for a word. Rose went obediently, and was surprised at what her father was telling her.

_"Rose," Ron said quietly. "I know you and Scorpius are friends, but I don't want you to grow too close."_

_ "What do you mean?" Rose asked. "Too close?"_

_ Ron sighed. "He's a Malfoy, Rose. I don't want you two to get too friendly. You still have 4 more years at Hogwarts. I bet in a few years he'll probably invite you to his house, and you'll meet his parents."_

_ "So what?" Rose asked. "Albus will probably come too. And it's just a house, and just his parents. They can't be that bad."_

_ "That's not what I mean," Ron said. "You and Albus are different. Don't take this the wrong way, okay, but I've watched Malfoy over the weekend. It's just the way he stares at you…"_

_ "What? Please just say it, Dad."_

_ "Don't you notice Scorpius's expression when he looks or talks with you? He… he fancies you."_

_ Rose gaped at her dad. "No, he doesn't! Scorpius and I are just friends! That's it!"_

_ Ron raised his eyebrows. "Really? Didn't you two go to the Yule Ball together? And best friends often turn into couples."_

_ "Like you and Mum?" Rose asked. "Dad, that's not what it's like. We're just friends! I mean, I like him as a friend, but I don't fancy him."_

_ "Well, that's good for you," Ron said. "But just wait a few years, and just wait what happens. I just want to tell you not to… you know, not to go out with him."_

_ "Dad!" Rose shouted. "That was never going to happen! Can you please stop being so annoying?"_

_ "I'm just trying to help you," Ron said, but Rose already left. She ran onto the train without another glance at her father._

"Rose?"

Rose didn't reply.

"Rose? ROSE?"

"What?"

"We're at Beauxbatons now," Scorpius said.

"Oh." Rose looked up and realized that the train wasn't moving anymore. Her compartment was empty except for Albus, Scorpius, and her. The fourth years had left already. "Right, sorry. I was just thinking."

Rose got her trunk and opened the compartment door. She was still thinking about what her father said. Did Scorpius really fancy her?

Rose glanced at her friend, but he just had on a wicked grin, as usual. He didn't seem to be staring at her or anything. Her dad was just worrying too much, that was it. He was just being annoying, as usual.

"Are you okay?" Albus asked, walking up to Rose with a worried expression on his face. "You seem so out of it. What did your Dad say to you this time?"

"What? My dad didn't say anything…"

Albus looked doubtful. "Didn't he ask you for a word before we went onto the Hogwarts express? You came back onto the train all angry. What did he say?"

Rose turned around and saw that Scorpius was right behind her. "I'll tell you later," she said to Albus. "I'm sorry, but I just can't tell you right now."

"That's okay," Albus said. "Just… just try not to daydream so much. We have classes tomorrow, and you don't want Scorpius to beat you."

"Right," Rose said, smiling at her cousin. "I'm sorry I shouted at you before. I know you were just trying to solve things with Lily."

"No problem," Albus replied. "We should probably get going, though. We're the last people here."

Rose nodded. "Hey, Scorpius? Race you to the school!" Rose took off.

"You got a head start!" Scorpius complained, but ran after her. Albus took his time, watching the two.

Rose ran up the hill as fast as she could, but Scorpius eventually caught up and beat her to the school. "I can run faster than you even when you get a head start!"

"Yeah, well, that's only because you're taller," Rose retorted, panting.

The two regained their breath while Albus walked up the hill. "You guys okay?"

"Yep," Rose said. She pushed open the door to Beauxbatons castle, and walked inside. The hallways were empty. "Where is everyone?"

"I don't know," Albus replied. "We were only on the train for five minutes longer."

"Strange," Rose said. "Well, we're supposed to be at dinner now, aren't we?"

"Right." The three entered the Hall and saw all the students eating.

"Oh, this is where everyone was," Rose said, and she went toward the table where her family was sitting. The people who had remained at Beauxbatons had already eaten dinner.

"Everyone's here," Albus said, looking around. "I think we missed the welcome back speech, though." Madame Maxime had just sat down.

"Oh well," Rose said, getting some food onto her plate. "Wait a second… where's James?"

* * *

><p>When James had gotten off the train, he had immediately been pulled over by Fournier. "Can you go to the Quidditch pitch in five minutes?" Fournier asked. "All the champions are gathering there so we can discuss the third task."<p>

"Oh, okay," James said, and he had walked over to the stadium. Aimee Caron was already there, but Rosencrantz wasn't. They waited for the Durmstrang champion to come.

A few minutes later, Rosencrantz came walking over, followed by Monsieur Fournier. "Hello, champions!" he said. "I hope your Easters have been good."

James and Caron nodded, and Rosencrantz just grunted.

"So, I brought you out here to tell you what the third task is," Fournier said. "There aren't any secrets this time. We'll tell you what it is, plain and simple. The Third Task is going to be on June 20th. Does anybody want to guess what it is?"

"A maze?" James guessed.

"Nope," Fournier replied. "But it's close. Have any of you heard of a triathlon? They have those in the muggle world."

Caron nodded. "Yeah, I heard of them before. Muggles have to swim, bike, then run, and they compete to see who goes the fastest."

"Correct," Fournier said. "The Third task is going to be modeled after a triathlon. Only, except of biking, you're going to fly."

"Could you explain more?" James asked. He was a little confused.

"Sure," Fournier replied. "Basically, to win the Triwizard Tournament, you're going to have to find the Triwizard Cup first. It'll be placed at the end of the obstacle course, or so it's called. To get to the end, you're going to have to swim through part of a river, then fly over a certain area, then run on a path to get to the Cup. There're going to be creatures in the way to stop you, so you'll have to learn spells too. It won't just be physical ability; it'll be magical ability too. We judges will be watching along the way, in case you get injured. So, is this clear?"

James nodded. The third task sounded quite simple and fun. The flying part would be so easy, the running part would be okay, and the swimming… well, he'd get some Gillyweed or something like that. This task would be fun.

"If you don't have any questions, you can all go back to the Castle," Fournier said. "But, if you want to see, the start of the Obstacle Course is over here, at the river." He pointed to the other side of the Quidditch pitch. "You can go see, if you want. We're going to be importing water creatures, air creatures, and regular creatures so it makes the task more difficult. Right now, the river is still empty, but you can go see if you want."

The other two contestants went over to the river, so James followed them. The river was deep and long, and it was a dark blue. It looked quite serene. Of course, in the actual task, it would be much more dangerous.

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><p><strong>Review?<strong>


	28. Chapter 27

**IMPORTANT A/N: Sorry for the capitals... but it's important! Anyway, I'm going to be away for a while, so I won't be able to update until September (probably around Labor Day). So there won't be any updates… Sorry. I might find time to update during my trip, but I doubt it.  
><strong>

**This chapter is a filler, since I wanted to get to the Third Task as soon as possible. It goes from the middle of April to the first day of June. It's kind of fast, but most of the action is coming soon, I promise. There's going to be something really unexpected in the next chapter. Sorry for making you wait a long time. **

**But enjoy this chapter! There's a lot of foreshadowing, so pay close attention…**

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><p>May rolled around the corner, with special events happening for all the students. Lorcan and Lysander celebrated their 15th birthdays. Rose and Scorpius competed to see who was the smartest. The fifth years were studying hard for OWLs, and they all got Career Advice. James spent every minute of his free time learning as many spells as possible.<p>

Back at Hogwarts, Lily was bored. Her exams were a month away, and she had nothing much to do. She longed to jump on a broom and fly to Beauxbatons to join her siblings, but, of course, she wasn't allowed. She was allowed to use her broom to practice for Quidditch, though.

The Gryffindors had won both of their Quidditch games, but so did Ravenclaw. The last match of the year would determine which house won the Quidditch cup. Lily would practice long and hard with her team every evening, in order to prove to her family that she could help her team win, even in her first year. James hadn't even done that.

When it was finally the day of the Quidditch match, on May 9th, Lily was sure that her team would win. The keeper, Karen Hailey, could save almost every single goal. The three chasers were pretty skilled too. And the Seeker, Flora Young, could spot the Snitch from a mile away. The captain, Sterling, was a really good one, and his practices ran smoothly. From all that work, Gryffindor would definitely win.

Lily walked out to the pitch without worrying. The first two matches, she had worried a lot, but this time, she was confident she would win.

Sure enough, the game went by quickly. Lily scored 5 times, while her teammates scored a lot too. The Gryffindor keeper saved every goal, and the Seeker caught the snitch in 10 minutes.

Afterwards, the Gryffindors were having a party in the common room. They had won the Quidditch cup, and probably the House Cup too, because of all the points Quiddich gave them. Lily and her friends were eating and enjoying the sweet sensation of victory, when, all of a sudden, an owl came flying over. Lily went over and opened the window.

"It's Gandalf," Lily said, removing the parcel from the owl.

"James's owl?" Layla asked. "What does he want?"

Lily shrugged, unrolling the scroll. She frowned as she read it.

"What does it say?" Layla walked over and looked at the letter over Lily's shoulder.

"Here, read." Lily gave Layla the parchment. She read it slowly, and looked up.

"Interesting," Layla said. "The Third Task sounds so fun. But your brother writes really strangely. His choice of words is quite… odd."

"That's not how James usually writes," Lily said. "You're right, Layla. This letter is odd. But my brother's always been odd, so I guess there's nothing to worry about."

Layla nodded. "I just can't wait for June 20th. The Third Task is going to be so much fun to watch. Your brother is definitely going to win, and then he gets 1000 galleons!"  
>"And eternal glory, don't forget that," Lily added. "But it's not like we need either of those prizes. Our family is already rich, and how could we not have glory? My dad defeated You-Know-Who!"<br>"Yeah, well, at least James will be able to say he did something himself now," Layla said. "It won't all be just because of his father."

"I guess so," Lily said. "I just hope James does something good with the 1000 galleons. Last time he earned money, he spent it all on a new broom, even though he already had a really good one."

"If he wins," Layla said. "Don't forget that. James might not win."

"No, he's definitely going to win," Lily replied. "He's James. He's amazing."

* * *

><p>James was freaking out about the Third Task. He barely focused on his schoolwork, and, thus, got a D on his latest Transfiguration assignment, which was his best subject. The only thing he was good at was DADA, since he was learning all those spells ahead of time.<p>

"James, you really need to focus more on academics," Oliver urged James. The two of them were in the secret classroom on the first floor; James was practicing while Oliver watched.

"Nah," James replied, waving his wand while looking at a book of spells. "That doesn't matter."

"Really? You still have to focus on schoolwork. Even if you do win the triwizard tournament, it doesn't mean you don't need to do good in school. It's not like they're going to let you be an Auror just because you won the Triwizard Tournament."

James ignored his friend. "Incarcerous!" Ropes shot out of his wand, and bound the nearest object, which happened to be a chair.

"You really think you'll need to know how to conjure a rope in the Third Task?" Oliver asked doubtfully.

"You never know," James replied, bending down to find another spell. "Hmm… how about this one? Diffindo!" He turned around and pointed his wand randomly, which happened to strike Oliver's wand.

"You broke it!" Oliver said, holding his wand up. It was split in two, with one tiny piece of wood holding it together. "This cost ten galleons! You'll have to buy me a new one."

"I can just fix it easily," James replied. "Reparo!" He pointed his wand to Oliver's broken one, and it sealed itself back together. "See? It's perfectly fine."

Oliver picked up his wand and examined it. "Lumos," he said, and the wand lit up, but after a few seconds, the light disappeared. Then the wand broke again.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," James said. "I didn't mean for your wand to break. I thought I could just repair it easily. I'm really sorry."

"It's no big deal," Oliver replied. "Just give me ten galleons and I'll go order a new wand." He placed the wand on the table and turned to go. "Just remember, you really need to improve your schoolwork."

"I will," James said. "But wait…you forgot your wand!"

"You can keep it," Oliver answered. "I'll go order a new one now. You never know when a spare wand can come in handy."

"You mean a broken one?" James asked, but Oliver was out the door. James repaired the wand again to make it seem good, and then pocketed it. Maybe it would come in handy some day…

* * *

><p>Midway through May, the fifth years were told to board the Hogwarts Express and head back to Hogwarts so they could take their O.W.L.s. Dominique boarded the train with all the other fifth years, and studied the whole time the train was moving. Examinations were going to take place in two weeks.<p>

A few days after staying in Hogwarts, the fifth years were called for career advice. Dominique nervously went down to Professor Longbottom's office, since he was head of Gryffindor House.

"Hello, Miss Weasley," Neville said as Dominique entered. Dominique smiled back; Neville was a good family friend.

"Hello, Professor Longbottom," Dominique replied, sitting down.

"As you evidently know, this meeting is to discuss your future," Neville explained. "You've seen the pamphlets on all possible careers you could take. Do you have any idea what you would like to be?"

Dominique thought for a minute. "I'd actually like to be a Healer."

"A healer?" Neville raised his eyebrows. "You're going for a different path then your family."

Dominique nodded. Her mother and father both worked at Gringotts, while her sister Victiore did the same. Dominique was the only one in the family who wished to follow a job that didn't have anything to do with Gringotts.

"Yep," Dominique replied. "I've just never really liked Arithmancy, which you need to be good at to work at Gringotts. I prefer helping people, and healing is a good way to do that."

"Wise decision," Neville said. "I'm sure your parents will be proud of you.  
><em>I'm not so sure<em>, Dominique thought, but didn't say anything. "So, what NEWTs should I take?"

"Potions," Neville replied. "Healers often need to mix up potions in order to heal their patients. Charms and Transfiguration, too. Herbology—plants are good sources of medicine."

"You're the Herbology teacher," Dominique said. "So you must be right."

Neville smiled. "And… Defense Against the Dark Arts. Your patients may be hurt because of a Dark spell. It's unlikely, but it's still possible. And, if you want, you could take Care of Magical Creatures. It's optional, but it would help, since you might need to treat animals as well."

"Okay," Dominique said. "So, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Herbology, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Care of Magical Creatures. I have a lot of studying to do."

"You'll be fine," Neville said. "OWLs aren't as bad as they seem. Don't stress out too much. Make sure you get a good sleep the night before."

"I will," Dominique replied. "Thanks for your time, Professor Longbottom."

"That's what I'm here for," Neville said. "Good luck studying, and on your exams."

"Thanks," Dominique said, and headed out the door. She bumped into Roxanne, who was waiting for her turn."

"How was it?" Roxanne asked nervously.

"It was really good," Dominique replied. "You know Neville. He's really nice and helpful. He just asked me what job I want to do, and he told me which NEWTs I should take."

Roxanne nodded. "Can you wait for me? It'll only be a few minutes, right."

"Yep," Dominique said. "I'll wait."

Roxanne smiled in thanks and entered the Herbology teacher's office. Dominique took out her Charms notebook and began reading over while she waited.

"Hey, Dominique!"

She looked up. Michael Wright was walking down the hall toward her. Dominique had been trying to please Molly, so she hadn't been talking to Michael lately in Beauxbatons, trying to avoid him most of the time. But now that they were back at Hogwarts, they could find each other more easily.

"Oh, hi," Dominique said.

"What are you doing?" Michael asked, walking up to Dominique. "Waiting for someone?"

Dominique nodded. "Roxanne. She's getting her Career Advice, and I'm just waiting for her."

"Oh," Michael said. "He looked down at the Charms notes in Dominique's hand. "Studying for OWLs?"

"Yeah," Dominique replied. "I'm so nervous."

"You'll do fine," Michael said. "You're one of the smartest in our year."

"No, I'm not. There're much smarter people in Ravenclaw."

Michael shook his head. "No. But anyway, how come I haven't seen you in a while? Back at Beauxbatons."

"Er…" Dominique sighed. "Well, we were both busy. You know, with OWLs."

"I see." Michael looked doubtful.

"Okay, maybe that's not the reason," Dominique replied. "But forget about it. I won't try to avoid you anymore. I promise. It was just… you know. Molly."

"Oh," Michael said. "Well..."

There was an awkward silence. Dominique brought out her charms book to try to make it less awkward. "Can you test me?"

"Sure." Michael flipped to a random page in her notebook. "What's the difference between Accio and Depulso?"

"Accio is the charm to summon something, while Depulso is to send things away," Dominique responded right away. "That's a simple one."

"Well, I'll find a harder one, if you're so smart," Michael said.

"Okay. I'm ready."

"What is the incantation to change the color of an object?"

"Um…" Dominique thought for a minute.

The door opened and Dominique jumped. "Oh, hi, Roxanne."

"What are you two doing?" Roxanne asked, surprised.

"Just studying," Michael responded. "Anyway, I should probably go." He got up and walked down the corridor. "See you tomorrow."

"What was that all about?" Roxanne asked.

"Not much," Dominique replied. "I was sitting here and he just came over and we decided to study together. But what about you? What career did you decide to do?"

"I want to be a Professor," Roxanne said. "Of Charms, if I could chose. Professor Flitwick is getting old, anyway."

"That's a perfect job for you," Dominique said. "I can imagine you teaching. You're good with kids."

"Thanks," Roxanne smiled. "Should we return to our common room now?"

Dominique nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

><p>On the first day of June, Lucy, Louis, Lysander, and Lorcan were sitting outside during break, enjoying the warmth. The exams were drawing nearer, but they couldn't bear to be studying on such a wonderful day.<p>

"It's so nice today," Lucy said, staring up at the blue sky and watching the clouds. "A perfect day is 22 degrees Celsius, with clear skies and a slight breeze. Today has all that."

"Yeah," Louis agreed. "It's perfect."

The four of them just sat there and stared into space, wasting time.

"We should really be studying," Lucy interrupted. "We're just sitting here and staring at the sky. We need to do our homework."

Lysander groaned. "Later."

"No, now," Lucy replied. "You can still enjoy the warmth while doing work." Lucy reached into her bag and pulled out a Crystal Ball. She stared into it, focusing on a point beyond the crystal ball so her eyes could be relaxed. Slowly, a picture came into focus. Lucy blinked and tried to look harder but the picture disappeared.

"I just had something but it disappeared!" Lucy said in exasperation. "Did any of you see anything?"

The three boys were still sitting there, doing nothing. "Guys!" Lucy shouted. "Hello? Time to do work!"

"Oh, right, sorry," Louis said. "I'll go study Transfiguration now. But I'm never going to study History of Magic. Never."

Lucy shrugged and returned her gaze to the crystal ball. "There's something there," she said aloud, as Lysander walked over and looked over her shoulder at the Crystal Ball. "It's… an animal—it has four legs."

"What is it?" Lysander asked, but Lucy shushed him.

"It's big and hairy…" Lucy continued. "I think it's a dog."

"A dog?" Lysander asked. "You don't mean…"

"The Grim," Lucy replied grimly. "I don't know. Maybe. Or maybe I just saw wrong. Let me try again." She turned back to the crystal ball and stared again. "I just keep coming up with the dog again."

"That's ominous," Louis said, overhearing Lucy. "But don't worry… Divination is really unpredictable. The Grim probably doesn't mean anything."

"Maybe," Lucy replied. "I sure hope so. Because the Grim means danger… and maybe even death."

* * *

><p><strong>Any predictions? Please review. It would be nice to get back from my trip and see lots of messages in my inbox! :) <strong>


	29. Chapter 28

**Hello everyone! I just got back from vacation, so here's an update. The chapter's a bit shorter than the others, but it has a lot of action. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.**

* * *

><p>It was the morning of the third task, and everyone would be going to Beauxbatons to watch. That included the first, second, and third years, the fifth years—who had stayed at Hogwarts after their OWLs—and the relatives of the champions. For the WeasleysPotters, that was nearly thirty people.

The Hogwarts Express zoomed slowly across the tracks toward Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, while all the students inside waited. It slowed to a stop near the school, and the students poured out. It was still the morning, and they had a lot of time until the Third Task started, which was at seven PM, but there weren't any classes that day. The students at Beauxbatons were taking exams, but the ones from Hogwarts had already taken them.

Dominique and her friends headed up the path toward the Beauxbatons entrance. It felt so good to be back, instead of with the little kids back at Hogwarts. Dominique pushed open the door to the Hall, where everyone was eating breakfast. There were even more people than usual—the whole Weasley family had come.

At the sound of the door opening and all the students entering, the people inside the Hall looked up. "You're back!" Lucy said, from a crowded table. The Weasley family had claimed two tables, and they took up the back of the Hall.

Dominique ran over to the tables and spotted her father. "Dad!" she said, and Bill turned and smiled at her.

"Hi," he said. "How were the OWLs?"

"They weren't too bad," Dominique replied. "I think I passed all of them."

"You mean you got Outstandings in all of them," said a voice from behind. Dominique turned and spotted Teddy Lupin smiling at her.

"Hey, Teddy!" Dominique said. Teddy's hair was a bright turquoise, and his eyes were green. "How are you?"

"I'm good," Teddy responded, giving Dominique a hug.

"How come all of you are here?" Dominique asked. "I thought it was just supposed to be the parents of the champions…"

"Well, Harry insisted that all of us come," Teddy said. "Then we could all come and cheer James on."

Dominique smiled. "That's nice. It's like we're back at The Burrow." Not that the Burrow had been too much fun.

Dominique sat down next to Victoire. "Hi," she said.

"Oh, hey, Dominique," Victoire replied. "Were the O.W.L.s okay?"

"They were okay," Dominique said. "I know I passed all the ones that were actually important, like Potions and Transfiguration and…" She trailed off. Victoire was talking to Teddy, ignoring Dominique. Dominique got up, angry, and moved toward the other table, where James was talking with George about the Third Task.

"You seem to have everything planned," George was saying. "I'm sure you'll win."

"I hope so," James said, as Dominique sat down across from them. "Oh, hey, Dom."

"Hi James," Dominique replied. "Hi Uncle George."

"Hello Dominique," George said. "How were your OWLs?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Dominique asked.

"Because that's what you've been worrying about for the past five months," James explained.

"Oh, right. Well, are you ready for the Third Task?"

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" James said.

"Because you're a champion," Dominique responded. "And because we have nothing better to talk about."

James made a face. "I think I'm okay. You know what the task is, right? The triathlon?" Dominique nodded. "Well, most of it tests physical ability, and that's pretty easy, and I learned a lot of spells already."

"That's why he got D's on all his assignments," Fred intervened.

"Yeah, well, I don't have to take exams, so this year doesn't count much," James replied. "Anyway, I think I'll be fine."

"We'll cheer for you the whole time," Dominique said.

"Thanks," James said.

* * *

><p>After breakfast, the rest of the students went off to take their exams, and James headed towards the empty classroom on the first floor. He decided to practice all his spells one last time, and did so successfully. With the knowledge of about fifty spells in his head, James went to lunch, where he met with his family again.<p>

"How was practicing random spells?" Fred asked as James sat down next to him.

"Good," James replied. "How was the Potions exam?"

"Bad," Fred answered.

"What he means is that the potion was supposed to be a cream color, but his was orange," Oliver explained.

"That's not too bad," James said.

"Ha! See, Oliver?"

"I meant that it wasn't too bad for you," James said. "For anyone else, it would have been terrible, but for you…"

Fred frowned. "Well, then. What are you going to do after lunch? We have our last exam: Herbology."

"Oh, that isn't too bad," James answered. "Wait, so you want to know what I'm going to do? Probably just go to the library and relax a little. Read some books, take a nap, maybe… That sort of stuff."

Fred nodded. "You should get some rest. Tonight is going to be the most important moment of your life. But make sure you come to dinner."

"Thanks, Fred," James said, surprised at the help his friend was giving. "I'll be back here by 6."

After lunch, James took Fred's suggestion and headed toward the library. He read a few books, and then dozed off. He awoke to the librarian screaming at him about taking up space but not doing anything productive.

"Sorry, sorry," James replied to the librarian. "I'll leave now." He picked up his bag and walked down the hallway, unsure of where to go. It was only 4 pm, three hours before the Third Task.

James decided to enter the bathroom, and he splashed some cold water on his face, trying to wake up. He'd never been this nervous before. The Third Task would be so important in his life.

James left the bathroom and decided to go to his tent to relax before the task began. He walked down the deserted corridor—everyone was taking exams—but he felt that somebody was following him. "Who's there?" James turned, but nobody was there.

He took out his wand and picked up his pace, starting to run. James could sense somebody close by, and he wanted to leave as soon as possible.

Then, he tripped. James was running fast but there was an invisible rope on the ground causing him to fall. "A trip jinx," James muttered to himself, getting up again. "Why would it be there?"

But before he could look around, something shot toward his stomach, and he went unconscious.

* * *

><p>"Have you seen James?"<p>

Rose looked up from her plate. "No, sorry," she told Oliver. "Not since lunch. Is he missing?"

Oliver nodded. "Fred and I've checked the library, the tent, everywhere. But James isn't there."

"Maybe he wants to be alone now so he can prepare for the task," Scorpius suggested.

"Maybe," Oliver replied. "But I don't think so. James isn't like that. He wouldn't just disappear."

Scorpius shrugged. "Strange."

"Well, I'm going to search for him," Oliver said. "Thanks anyway." He turned and walked toward Fred, and they prepared to leave.

"I'll come too," Albus stood up. "He _is_ my brother."

Fred and Oliver exchanged glances. "Fine, then," Fred said. "You can come. But it might be boring."

"I'm coming too, then," Rose said. "I care about them too."

"Then I'm coming too," Scorpius added.

Fred sighed in exasperation. "It'll just take longer with more people."

"We won't be a burden, I promise," Rose said.

"Fine," Fred replied. "But I still don't understand why you would want to come, Scorpius." He shot Scorpius a glare and then faced the door. "Let's go."

"Why does your family hate me so much?" Scorpius asked as they left the hall.

"They don't hate you," Rose replied. "Fred is just in a bad mood."

Scorpius didn't reply, but Rose could tell he didn't believe her. Rose ran up to Oliver and Fred. "So where are you going to search?" she asked.

"We're going to use this," Fred replied, taking something out of his pocket. "You can't tell anyone about it, though. It's a map of Beauxbatons that shows where everyone is."

Rose nodded. "Cool."

Fred stared at her in astonishment. "You're not amazed or anything? We took three weeks to make this thing!"

Rose shrugged. Scorpius had told her about it at the Yule Ball, but she didn't want to reveal that. Instead she just said, "It's not that advanced. I would be able to make that in a couple of years."

"Whatever," Fred said. "Anyway, the dot with James's name is where he is. Do you see him?"

Rose, Scorpius, and Albus all looked at the map, trying to find James. After five minutes without finding him, they had to accept that James wasn't there.

"Did you miss any rooms?" Rose asked. "Secret ones, like the Room of Requirement?"

"Well, you can't plot those rooms," Oliver replied. "But I know there are at least five."

"Let's go search, then." The five of them split up, each going to a different secret room that Fred and Oliver had discovered. Rose went to the classroom on the ground floor, but nobody was there. There were only some books scattered on the floor.

The five of them met in the entrance hall later. "Anyone find anything?" Oliver asked.

They all shook their heads.

"This isn't good," Fred said. "There's only half an hour before the task. James said he would come for dinner. And there aren't any secret rooms that he knows beside these."

"So why isn't he here?" Rose asked.

Fred and Oliver exchanged glances. "Uh oh," Fred said. "James would definitely be here… unless something happened to him."

* * *

><p>James awoke and looked around. He didn't know where he was. The room was completely white, and he was sitting on a white table. <em>Where am I?<em>

Then he remembered what had happened. James fumbled in his robes for his wand, but it was gone. He walked around the room, looking for an exit, but there was none. He tried apparating. It didn't work. _This is not good,_ James thought. _I'm going to miss the Third Task. How could I have been so stupid?_

There was nothing James could do, so he just sat and waited. It must have been ten minutes before a gap appeared in the wall and a figured appeared.

James gasped. He expected the reason he was here to be Moreau, but it wasn't him. The person standing here was the last person he had expected.

* * *

><p><strong>Don't you love cliffhangers? :) I'll update tomorrow, so you don't have to wait too long.<strong>

**Who do you think is the person standing there? Any guesses? PLEASE review. Hint: The person is somebody who was mentioned in a previous chapter, somebody who had dialogue.  
><strong>


	30. Chapter 29

****IMPORTANT A/N: Okay, tomorrow is my first day of school (I know, my school starts late) so I'm probably going to be very busy. So I won't be able to update everyday anymore. Sad, isn't it? I'll try to update as soon as I can, but I don't know how often that will be. It'll be a bit random. But it will be probably at least once a week. Or more. Whenever I don't have work and feel like writing.****

******This is a long chapter. The longest so far. Thanks to everyone for reviewing. Nobody guessed who the evil person was, but they were all good guesses. I hope this chapter surprises you.******

* * *

><p>It was Monsieur Guillory.<p>

"You stunned me?" James asked in disbelief. It was hard to believe that the old wandmaker would do such a thing.

"No, that was my assistant," Guillory replied matter-of-factly.

James stared at the man. "Why? Why am I here? What do you want?"

"I just want to ask you a few questions," Guillory answered. "Cooperate, and I'll let you go. The Third Task starts in thirty minutes, and you don't want to miss it."

"Alright," James said. "Ask away."

"Where did you get this?" Guilloty held up James's wand.

James made a grab for the wand, but Guillory moved away and held up his own wand. "I can use magic, Potter. Don't even try anything."

James sat back down. "Fine. I bought this wand in my first year. At Ollivander's." Ollivander had died three years ago, but he was still alive—if not frail and weak—when James went to Hogwarts.

"Did he tell you anything about this wand?" Guillory asked.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Just answer the question, Potter," Guillory insisted.

"No." James stood up. "You're going to answer a few of my questions, or I'm never going to answer yours."

"Then you'll never get to go to the Third Task," Guillory replied. "But I'll play along. What do you want to know?"

"What does Moreau have to do with this?" James asked. "And why do you need to ask these questions?"

"I'll answer the first question only," Guillory said. "I'm surprised you needed to ask the second one. Isn't it obvious?"

"If it was, would I have asked it?"

Guilliory ignored that. "Well, you'll find out later. In response to your first question, Moreau is my assistant."

"_He _stunned me?" James wondered.

Guillory nodded. "But now he's down at the river, ready to judge the third task."

"Wait a minute… You were the one who sent him that letter!" James exclaimed. "But you were threatening him! How did you get him to agree? And what did the creator-of-them-all mean?"

"Too many questions," Guillory said. "Slow down. Moreau may be the Head of the Department of International Magical Relations, but he did something that only I know about. Something bad. I told him I would tell the Ministry about it if he didn't obey me."

"What did he do?" James asked.

"I'm not going to tell you," Guillory replied. "Nobody knows but me."

James frowned. "But why did you tell Moreau to follow me? And why did he favor the other champions?"

"I didn't tell him to help the other champions," Guillory explained. "He chose to on his own accord. I suppose he just found you annoying. But, I told Moreau to follow you because of your wand."

"What's so special about my wand?" James asked. "It's just a normal wand."

Guillory's eyes gleamed. "Remember what I told you about it during the weighting ceremony?"

James thought back to that day. It seemed like ages ago. "Yeah… you said that my wand was special. That I should never lose it."

Guillory nodded. "Your wand _is _special. But in a different way than you'd think."

"I don't understand," James said. "What do you mean?"

"Your wand isn't new," Guillory explained. "It used to be owned by somebody else."

"Really?" James asked. "I thought Ollivander made all his wands by himself. I didn't know he would reuse wands."

Guillory shook his head. "I know Ollivander – he was my mentor. But that was when he was young. When he was still full of energy. Most of the wands in his shop have been there for years, wands that he made when he was young. When he died, I don't think he had made a wand for twenty years. They're all really old ones."

"But my wand would still be made by him, wouldn't it?" James asked. "Even if it's old. Ollivander wouldn't reuse wands…"

"Unless the wand choses the wizard," Guillory said. "Do you remember when you purchased your wand?"

"I tried about ten wands before this one," James replied. "I don't remember the details. But Ollivander just took this wand out of a box and gave it to me, and it just felt right. So I bought it."

"He didn't tell you anything about your wand?" Guillory asked.

James shook his head. "Nothing."

Guillory sighed. "Well, your wand belonged to a wizard before you. A very great wizard, who was said to be evil, but then good."

"Who is it?"

"A great man," Guillory replied. "Your brother's namesake."

"Albus Dumbledore?" James asked. "No way. Dumbledore had the Elder Wand."

"Not Dumbledore," Guillory said. "I meant your brother's middle name. Not his first name."

"Albus Severus Potter," James said softly. "Severus… You don't mean… Snape?"

Guillory nodded. "Your wand belonged to him."

"But that's not possible!" James exclaimed. "Snape was killed in the shrieking shack. His wand was left there. How would Ollivander have gotten it?"

"My mentor was a very strange man," Guillory answered. "He adored wands. He probably went to the Shrieking Shack later to find and claim Snape's wand."

James was confused. "But even if my wand is Snape's, what's so important about it? It's still just a wand."

"That's where you're wrong," Guillory said. "The wand is worth a lot not because of it's power, but because of it's value. Not only in money, but just as a memory."

"What do you mean?" James asked.

"When you believed that I'm doing this for my own accord, you're wrong," Guillory said. "It's difficult to explain. See, I don't want any harm to come to you. All I want is your wand. Nothing else. But you're making it so difficult, so there's other way."

"But why do you want my wand in the first place?" James asked. "You never even met Snape."

"_I _didn't,' Guillory replied. "But the person who paid me to do it did."

"Wait… so, someone asked you to get my wand, and then you asked Moreau to help?"

Guillory nodded. "Correct."

"But who asked you in the first place?"

Guillory paused. "Draco Malfoy."

"What?" James was really confused right now. "Why?"

"I don't know," Guillory replied. "He just paid me to get your wand. Anyway, I got your wand and you answered my questions, so my job is done. You didn't tell me anything I didn't know already. Good-bye, Potter." Guillory turned around and walked toward the door.

"Wait!" James stood up and ran after him. "You said you'd let me go once I answered your questions!"

"I did," Guillory replied. "But you asked questions too, and I revealed too much. I can't let you go unless I modify your memory so you forget what I told you."

"Then do it," James said. He knew that his father could use Legilimency to find out the truth easily.

"Really?" Guillory asked. "I don't know how to modify _part _of your memory. I can only erase the whole thing. Surely you don't want to be memory-less for the rest of your life."

James didn't say anything. If it was a choice between missing the Third Task or losing his memory, he would miss the Third Task. But if it was a choice between staying in this room forever or dying…

"I'll give you ten minutes to think," Guillory said. He turned around, pointed his wand at the wall, and stepped through it. James watched, shocked, and then sat down on the table. He was still really confused about the whole wands business, but that could wait. He needed to get out, but he couldn't. There was no way that he would let the wandmaker make his memory disappear.

James just had to hope that his family would get him out soon.

* * *

><p>"Uncle Harry!"<p>

Fred, Oliver, Rose, Scorpius, and Albus entered the Hall, looking out of breath and upset. Fred immediately walked up to Harry. Lily, sitting next to her father, listened.

"James is missing," Fred said. "We've looked everywhere. James said he would be back by six, but it's already 6:30 and he's not here. The only reason why he wouldn't be here is if something happened to him."

"You think so?" Harry asked.

Fred nodded. "I'm sure."

Albus walked up toward his father. "Dad, you know how brothers can sometimes sense each other? Well, I can feel that James is in the danger. I just can."

"I believe you," Harry replied. "But do you have any idea where James is?"

"No," Fred said. "We don't know. He could be anywhere in this whole building."

"Well, we need a lead," Harry said. "We can't just search the whole building."

"I think I know where we can get a lead," Fred responded.

"How?"

"Moreau," Fred said. "He's the one behind all this. James told you, didn't he?"

Harry nodded. "But I didn't believe him."

"Well, let's go!" Albus said. "Moreau should be outside, next to the Quidditch pitch, where the Third Task begins."

"Shouldn't he be wherever James is?" Lily spoke up. Harry and Fred looked at her in surprise, not noticing that she was there.

"Well, it's worth a try," Fred said. "Let's go."

"I want to come too!" Lily said.

"There's no need," Harry replied, but Lily wouldn't listen. She followed Fred out the door, despite her father's words.

When the seven of them—Fred, Albus, Scorpius, Rose, Harry, Oliver, and Lily—found Moreau, he was standing by the lake, watching the water ripple by. "Stay behind," Harry commanded to the children, and walked up to the man. "Hello, Monsieur Moreau."

"Hello, Mr. Potter," Moreau replied, facing Harry. "How are you?"

"Not good," Harry said. "My son has disappeared. Does this have anything to do with you?"

Moreau didn't reply. He just stared at the river.

"My son is in danger," Harry said angrily. "You must tell me everything you know about this. I know you know. Don't even pretend not to know."  
>Moreau looked into Harry's face. "James isn't in any danger."<p>

"Then where is he?" Harry demanded.

"I don't know," Moreau replied solemnly.

Harry stared at Moreau once more and then turned around. "Let's go," he said to the young Weasleys/Potters.

"But you didn't find anything out!" Lily said, but Harry hushed her. When they got far away, out of Moreau's earshot, Harry spoke up.

"I know where James is," Harry said.

"How?" Fred asked.

"Legilimency," Harry replied. "It's the art of reading minds, something that took me years to master. But I could tell that Moreau was lying."

"So where is James?" Lily asked.

"Moreau doesn't know," Harry answered. "But he stunned James on the ground floor about an hour ago, and then some person took him away. I think we should start with the ground floor."

"So let's go then!" Lily said. "There are only twenty minutes left."

"I don't think any of you should come," Harry said. "It might be dangerous. Let the adults handle it, okay?"

"What?" Fred asked. "Why can't we come?"

Harry glared at him. "It's for your own safety." He walked back toward the Hall. Lily followed, looking down at the ground.

On the way to the Hall, Harry met Fournier, who was talking to Madame Maxime in French. "Excuse me," Harry said. "But James is missing. Can you halt the tournament for an hour so we can find him?"

"I'm sorry," Fournier replied. "We can't. That's the rule of the Triwizard Tournament. If a champion misses the task, he's automatically forfeited. In this task, if James comes late, he could just join the triathlon a bit late, but he'll probably lose, since the others got head starts."

"Oh," Harry said. "Well, thanks anyway."

Once inside the Hall, Harry explained what was happening to all the other adults. Harry, Ginny, Ron, Hermione, George, Percy, Bill, and Fleur all got up and left the Hall. Lily watched them go, angry.

"Alright." As soon as they were gone, Fred stood up and directed the rest of the Weasley family.

"What's going on?" Lucy asked. "Why did everyone leave?"

"James is missing," Fred explained. "And he's in danger. But all the adults left. So, I say we all go look for him ourselves."

"Absolutely not," Angelina said. She and Audrey were still in the Hall. "You cannot just run off."

"I'm of age already," Fred replied to his mother. "And all of us are responsible. You can't make us stay in here while James is in danger. Who's with me to go find him?"

Rose, Scorpius, Albus, Hugo, and Lily immediately agreed. The rest of them looked uncertain.

"Do you have any idea where James is?" Dominique asked. "And what do you mean, he's in danger? Are we going to have to defend ourselves?"

"I don't know," Fred replied. "But don't you want to go? Just for fun?"

"If everyone else goes," Dominique answered, still looking doubtful.

"I'll go," Lucy piped up. "It sounds like adventure."

"Me too," Louis said.

"Can we go?" Lysander asked, motioning to himself and Lorcan.

Fred nodded. "Of course." He turned to Dominique, Molly, and Roxanne. "So have you decided?"

"I'm coming," Roxanne told her brother. Molly nodded in agreement.

Dominique shrugged. "I guess I'll just come too. But I don't get how you'll find anything. You don't know where James is."

"We'll find out," Fred said. "All ready, then? Let's go."

Angelina stood up and walked in front of her son. "I told you already, you are not allowed to leave this hall. The adults are all handling it fine – you'll just make it worse."

"We can do anything we want," Fred replied. "There are fourteen of us, two of you. Four if you count Teddy and Victoire." Fred turned to Teddy. "Are you coming?"

Teddy looked uncertain. "I can't stop you, so I might as well come," Teddy replied. "To make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"Fred Weasley, I am not letting you leave!" Angelina said.

"You can't stop all of us," Fred said, and he stepped around his mother. "Come on."

Lily shot a guilty look at Angelina, but followed Fred out the door. Angelina couldn't do anything to stop sixteen teenagers, so she just sat back down, helpless.

"Okay," Fred said as soon as everyone was outside. "We know that James was here last, before he got kidnapped. There was a trip jinx over there, and then James disappeared."

Lily walked on the first floor corridor, examining the floor to see if anything was there. There wasn't any evidence there. She wondered where her parents went.

"I can feel something," Albus said suddenly.

"What?" Fred asked.

"I can feel where James is," Albus repeated. "You know, our bond as brothers. James isn't here."

"Then where is he?"

Albus closed his eyes and concentrated. "The sixth floor," he said.

"You're sure?" Fred asked.

Albus nodded. "Positive."

"Let's go!" The fourteen kids ran up the stairs toward the sixth floor. Lily watched as Albus closed his eyes again, and walked toward the right. Albus froze in front of a stretch of blank wall.

"James is somewhere here," Albus said. "I mean, I can sense him over here—" Albus moved toward the left. "And over here." Albus moved toward the right. "They're really strong. But then, here, I can't feel anything."

"This is where the room is!" Lucy exclaimed. Lily looked at her in confusion.

"What room?" she asked.

"It's a long story," Lucy replied.

"Basically, it's the place where Judges Moreau and Fournier talk about the task," Fred explained.

"And it's the place where Moreau hides secret letters," Lucy added.

Fred nodded. "To get in, you have to take a rock and walk back and forth three times. Anyone have a rock?"

They all shook their heads. "I have a remembrall," Lily said.

"I think I could transform it into a rock," Teddy said. "I'll buy you a new one later."

Lily nodded, and handed her remembrall over to Teddy. He took his wand out and pointed it a little and the remembrall slowly became a rock.

"Wow, that's good," Fred said, watching.

"I told you that's why I came along," Teddy replied. He held up the rock and examined it. "So, do I just walk past three times?"

"Yep."

Teddy took the rock and walked back and forth three times. When he finished, there was a door in the middle of the wall.

"What's inside?" Lily asked Lucy.

"Just a room," Lucy replied. "Not much."

Fred twisted the doorknob and the door opened. He stepped inside. Lily followed, looking around. It was just a room, except it had some strange decorations.

"Do you feel anything, Albus?" Fred asked.

"Yeah," Albus responded. "From here." He walked toward the back of the room, where a large tapestry of a lion was hanging. "There's something here."

"Guys!" Roxanne shouted. They all turned to look at here. "Don't you hear something?"

Lily listened hard. Then she could make out the faint sounds of some people talking.

"Yeah," Fred replied. "It sounds like there are some people down there. But it sounds like… it sounds like our parents."

Fred was right. Lily leaned down and put her ear to the floor, and she could hear her parents arguing about something. _Strange._

Meanwhile, Albus was examining the tapestry on the back wall. He pushed it forward, but nothing happened.

Teddy walked over and examined it. "Wait a second…" He felt around it, and then smiled. With one quick spell, he managed to take the tapestry off the wall and make it sit on the ground. On the space where the tapestry used to sit, there was now a door.

"Nice," Fred said, walking over to the door. "I wonder what's behind."

"I can sense James," Albus said quietly.

"Let's open the door, then," Fred said. He turned the knob. It was unlocked.

"Wait," Dominique said. Everyone turned to look at her. "This is a bit too easy. Don't you feel like there's a trap?"

Fred shrugged. "No. If Albus wasn't here, we would never have found this place. It can't be a trap."

"I just _know_ that James is somewhere behind here," Albus said. "I'm positive."

Dominique shrugged, and watched as Fred opened the door. The door opened onto black.

"Want to go in first?" Fred asked Albus. He shook his head. "Anyone?"

"I'll go," Teddy volunteered, and stepped inside. "It's dark!" he shouted. "But there's nothing here."

Fred stepped in after, and then Albus, and then Rose and Scorpius. The rest of them followed. Soon they were all inside.

"So now what?" Lily asked.

"Now you are trapped," said a voice from above. There was a sound, like a lever pulling, and then the floor disappeared, causing them all to fall.

When Lily finally hit the floor, they were in another room, a room that had light. She blinked. Everywhere was white. There was no door, nothing. They were trapped.

Dominique groaned. "I _told _you we shouldn't have went in."

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><p><strong>Comments? Questions? Predictions? PLEASE review. I want to know what you think about this chapter.<br>**

**Thank you everyone who followed this story! I will update soon, promise.**


	31. Chapter 30

**Sorry for the long wait.**

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><p>"How was I supposed to know it would be a trap?" Fred asked.<p>

"Isn't that obvious?" Dominique shouted back. "It's too easy!"

"Well, I'm sorry," Fred replied sarcastically. "At least we had a lead. At least Albus sensed something, rather than nothing."

Dominique sat down and groaned. "Now what do we do?"

"Would you stop complaining?" Molly asked. "Let's just make the best of it. Don't just sit here and complain. _Do _something."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "We should try to get out."

"I know," Dominique replied. "I was going to help, but then everyone started shouting at me."

"Please stop shouting," Scorpius said. "There's no use."

Fred rounded on Scorpius. "Oh, so you're defending Dominique?"

"I'm not defending her," Scorpius replied. "I'm just trying to help."

"Fred, please stop," Rose said. "All this arguing isn't doing any good."

"Yeah, of course, defend your boyfriend," Fred said mockingly.

Rose turned red. "He's not my boyfriend."

"Then why did he spend all that time finding you after the First Task?" Fred asked.

"Albus did too!" Rose responded indignantly. "He's not my boyfriend!"

Lily, who had been quiet until now, spoke up. "I still don't understand why the three of you broke the rules and stayed at Beauxbatons. You left me and Hugo alone."

Her voice was so small and innocent that Lucy couldn't help but feel bad for her. But she didn't say anything, hoping not to get involved in this argument.

"I just wanted to join all the excitement," Rose replied. "It seemed so much more fun at Beauxbatons than at Hogwarts."

"And what about us?" Lily asked. "Me and Hugo?"

Rose didn't respond. She just looked at the ground.

While Lily and Rose were arguing, a whole new argument was taking place between Dominique and Molly. Fred and Scorpius were also arguing. Albus was still closing his eyes. Lucy, Louis, Lysander, and Lorcan were all watching.

"Will you all just be quiet?" Oliver shouted.

Everyone immediately quieted down. Lucy had forgotten that Oliver was there; he had barely talked at all.

"Look," Oliver said. "We're not going to get anywhere with everyone arguing. We're not going to get out of here if everyone doesn't cooperate. So, would everyone just please apologize?"

At first, all the students looked as if they were going to protest. Then Teddy said, "Oliver's right. You all need to apologize to each other. Who wants to go first?"

There was a pause, and then Rose said, "I will."

Teddy nodded in approval.

Rose turned to her youngest cousin. "I'm sorry, Lily, for leaving you alone at Hogwarts. I'm sorry, Hugo, too. When I left Hogwarts, I guess I did it out of selfishness. I shouldn't have left you two alone. I promise I won't ever leave you behind again."

"I forgive you," Lily replied. "And I'm sorry for being so stubborn. I just didn't want to be alone."

Rose and Lily stared at each other, and then they hugged. It was the perfect moment.

"Who's next?" Teddy asked.

Dominique sighed. "I'll do it." She looked at Molly. "I'm sorry for not spending much time with you."

"I'm sorry for shouting at you," Molly said. "And I know I shouldn't blame you for making new friends. You can do anything you want."

Dominique smiled. "I forgive you."

Molly nodded. "Me too."

"Now it's just you left, Fred," Teddy said.

Fred sighed. "Do I have too?"

Teddy stared at Fred sternly, and he cringed under his gaze. "Alright, alright," Fred said. "I apologize to Scorpius for shouting at him and accusing him of things that were not true."

"It's fine," Scorpius replied.

"But if you ever even think of hurting Rose…" Fred said.

"We get it," Teddy interrupted. "Don't continue. So, now that you're all happy and not arguing, do you have an idea to get out of here? Albus?"

Albus opened his eyes. "What?"

"How's your sense of James?" Teddy asked.

"I don't know…" Albus replied. "I feel like he's really close nearby, but I don't know how that's possible. We should be somewhere on the same level as the fifth floor, but Beauxbatons isn't that big. I don't know where this room could even fit."

"Well, it doesn't have to physically appear," Lucy said. "You know, like the room of requirement. It doesn't take up space. It's just there."

"Oh," Albus said thoughtfully. "Well, then, James is really close."

"Do you think he can hear us if I shout?" Louis wondered. When nobody answered, he shouted "James! James!"

There was no reply.

"You still all have your wands, right?" Teddy asked everyone. They all nodded. "Why don't we try to find a way out?"

Lucy and the rest of them nodded. She took out her wand and examined where they were. The room had no roof; there was just a long stretch of darkness. The walls looked sturdy.

"Diffindo," Lucy said, pointing her wand at the wall. There was a small dent in the wall. "Diffindo!" Lucy said again. "Reducto!"

The wall parted in two. Lucy poked her head through and looked down. There was just blackness outside the room.

"What's out there?" Lysander asked, joining Lucy.

"I don't know," Lucy replied. "Just darkness."

"Well, apparation doesn't work," Teddy was saying. "And there are obviously no doors. And we can't fly. So…" Then he spotted the gap in the wall next to Lucy. "What's that?"

"I used Diffindo to try to make a hole in the wall so we could get out," Lucy replied. "But there's nothing out there."

Teddy strode toward the wall. "What the…"

"The only explanation for that is that we're in a room that technically doesn't exist," Lucy said. "I bet if we tried to break the wall of the Room of Requirement, something like this would be seen."

"Hmm," Teddy said thoughtfully. "Well, it seems like the only way out is to fly up. But we can't. None of you have broomsticks or suddenly got the ability to fly?"

They all shook their heads.

"I could try summoning James's broomstick," Fred offered. "His broomstick is the only one that's close by."

Teddy shrugged. "It's worth a try."

"Accio James's broomstick!" Fred shouted. Then he waited. And waited. And waited.

"I don't think it's working," Lucy said. "The Accio spell only works when you're within a certain distance."

"So, how do we get out, then?" Fred asked. "If we can't go up?"

"Then we have to go down," Teddy replied solemnly.

"Go down where?"

"Look," Teddy said. Fred and Oliver went toward the hole in the wall, and peered down.

"Whoa, that's scary," Fred said. "I'm not going down there."

"What?" Rose asked. She, Albus, and Scorpius went toward the hole too. Soon, when everyone saw the darkness around them, Teddy began talking again.

"Right, then," Teddy said. "You've all seen what's outside. But we've got no way out except to go down. So, I propose that we jump down to see what's there."

"Are you serious?" Rose asked. "We'd die if we jumped! There're probably miles and miles of darkness until we hit the ground, and then we'd be dead."

Teddy raised an eyebrow. "The smartest Weasley has never heard of a cushioning charm?"

"I've heard of them," Rose replied defiantely. "But I don't know if it would work. Besides, this room isn't right. It's not part of Beauxbatons. If you jump, you might never hit the ground. You might just fall forever."

"Well, I agree with Teddy," Fred said. "Our only way out is down. We can't just stay here forever. Something's going to happen to James. And besides, they wouldn't design a series of rooms that just float in midair. I know our parents are close by, and so is James. All the rooms are connected."

Teddy gave Fred an appreciative smile. "Anyone else approve?"

"I don't know," Dominique said. "Maybe. If that's the only way out."

"Well, I'm the oldest, so I'll go first," Teddy said. "And I know how to do a cushioning charm. When I get down to the bottom, I'll call up for you. If you don't hear me, then…" Teddy didn't finish the sentence.

"Good luck," Victoire said, giving Teddy a hug. The rest of the Weasley family did the same.

"Diffindo!" Teddy shouted, making the wall have a hole big enough to fit him. "Lumos." His wand lit up. Teddy gave his adopted family one last smile, and then jumped.

The next thirty seconds were pure agony. The Weasleys/Potters watched the faint glimmer of light go farther and farther away until it was gone from sight.

A minute passed, and there was still no answer. "Oh no," Dominique said softly. "Does that mean…?"

"I'm okay!" came a voice from below, causing Lucy to jump in relief.

"He's okay!" Dominique repeated unnecessarily.

"It's very far!" Teddy shouted. "But it's not bad! And I think there's a way out! Who wants to come next?"

"I'll go," Scorpius volunteered. He took a deep breath, and then jumped. Rose followed. Lucy went next.

The feeling of free-falling was an exhilarating experience, because she knew she would come into no harm at the end. It was wonderful just falling, forgetting about all the worries of life. After about twenty seconds, Lucy could see a light near the end of the passage, and then she heard Teddy shout something. Slowly, she floated downward until she gently touched the ground.

"That was fun," Lucy said to Teddy, who was holding out his wand, watching for any bodies coming toward the ground. "Lysander should be coming any minute."

Teddy nodded, but concentrated on watching the darkness. Lucy turned around to see Rose and Scorpius talking. Keen not to interrupt, Lucy said 'Lumos' and explored the place. It looked like the darkness went forever. "Teddy," Lucy said. "When you said you found an exit…"

"Shh," Teddy said. "Later."

Lucy wasn't good at being patient, but she waited. When Fred (the last one) touched the ground, Teddy's expression of concentration finally vanished. "Sorry," Teddy said to Lucy. "I didn't mean to be rude. But I didn't want anyone to fall to their deaths."

"It's fine," Lucy replied. "So how do we get out?"

"You didn't see that?" Teddy asked, pointing toward the left.

"See what?"

Teddy shone his light onto a piece of metal. "This," Teddy said.

'This' was a large ladder that seemed to go up and up forever. It was made out of metal, but it was so old that there were large chunks of rust everywhere. Lucy put both feet on the bottom rung of the ladder to see if it would take her weight. It did.

"Wow," Lucy said to herself quietly. Teddy was explaining to the others about the ladder, and how it would probably lead back toward the sixth floor.

"Are you sure that leads to James?" Albus asked. "Because I can feel James right here. He's close by."

"There's no other way out," Teddy replied. "We should just go back up."

"So, you want to go first?" Fred asked.

"Sure," Teddy agreed. "In the same order as when we jumped down."

They all agreed. Teddy began climbing up. When it was Lucy's turn, she put one hand after another and kept on climbing. It seemed to go on and on forever.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, James was still trying to find a way out; he wasn't even thinking about the strange reason why Guillory wanted his wand. Just thinking of it made his brain hurt.<p>

James looked inside his pockets of his robes to see if he had anything useful. Out came a crumpled piece of paper, a quill, a pebble, and Oliver's broken wand.

_Nothing useful,_ James thought angrily. The only thing he could do with the pebble was throw it at Guillory and hope it would knock him out, but he didn't think that would work. And a broken wand… Hm. It looked like a good wand, so maybe…

The door opened. James quickly took the wand and held it behind his back so Guillory wouldn't see. The old man walked inside, and the door sealed.

"Hello again, James," Guillory said.

"How many minutes until the Third Task are there?" James asked brusquely. He didn't need to be polite.

"I believe that it is starting right this minute," Guillory replied.

James groaned. If he managed to get out right now, he might be able to run toward the river and have a chance of winning. But if he didn't get out soon, he would definitely lose.

"So, have you thought of what I said?" Guillory asked. "Will you let me wipe out your memory?"

"Never," James answered. He'd decided that he wouldn't want his memory lost, ever.

Guillory looked displeased. "Well, then, you can stay here until the Tournament has a winner," he said. "And then you will either stay here forever or I will force you to say good-bye to your memory forever."

He faced James with his wand out but slowly backed away toward the wall. James watched and made a quick decision. He might never get the chance again, and if it worked, it worked. If it failed, nothing would happen.

Pointing Oliver's wand at Guillory out from behind his back, James did a nonverbal 'expelliarmus.' He thought it hard, but nothing happened. Perhaps he would have to say it out loud, since they had more effect.

"Expelliarmus!" James shouted suddenly. Guillory didn't cast a shield charm, either not having the reflexes to do so or imagining that James just shouted a spell without a wand. Either way, Guillory's wand floated in the air until it landed in James's hand.

"What?" Guillory asked in astonishment. He then saw Oliver's wand, which was now in two pieces. "How is that possible? I checked your pockets and saw the wand, but it's impossible to cast a spell with a broken wand."

James shrugged. "It worked for me. And besides, it wasn't very hard to get a wand from you."

Guillory's face turned angry. "Well, I still have your wand," Guillory said, taking out James's wand from his pocket.

"How about a duel?" James suggested.

"I'm fifty years older than you and have more experience," Guillory replied. "But if you really want to duel, I'll do it."

"Yes, but you're also slower," James answered. He and Guillory turned to face each other. At the same time, they bowed.

"Stupefy!" James shouted. Guillory deflected it. The old man cast a nonverbal stunning charm but James ducked and the red jet shot over his head. "Impedimenta! Stupefy!"

They continued dueling for a few minutes. Guillory seemed to be running out of breath, but James was just getting started.

"Expelliarmus!" James shouted, when Guillory was gasping for breath. Guillory's wand flew out of the air and landed in James's free hand.

"You won," Guillory said. "But you still can't get out."

"Oh, yes I can," James said softly, walking up to the wandmaker, pointing both wands in his face. "Because you're going to tell me."

"You're not a killer, James," Guillory said. "I don't think you're going to do that."  
>James held his ground. "No, I'm not a killer. And you're not either. But, I do have two wands, and I know many other spells that can help persuade you."<p>

The color in Guillory's face faded. "Promise me that you won't say anything when you leave."

"Just tell me how to get out!" James demanded. He gripped the wands even tighter.

"Oh, fine, I'll tell you," Guillory said. "I have no other choice, do I?"

"No, you don't."

"To get out, all you have to do is think of the phrase 'Mudbloods are bad' as you walk through the door. There should then be a dark room with a ladder, and you just climb up to get back to Beauxbatons."

"You really are evil, aren't you?" James asked.

"No, I just needed a phrase that you would never think of," Guillory replied.

James ignored him. He pocketed Guillory's wand, and then used his own to make ropes tie Guillory's body (Incarcerous). "See, Oliver, that spell did come in useful."

James saw the old wandmaker struggle in the ropes, and couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt. But he quickly quenched that feeling. He deserved it.

"I'll come back for you later," James said to Guillory. Then, thinking of the phrase (it gave him shudders just to think it), James walked through the door.

The feeling was like walking through the entrance to Platform 9 and 3/4s. When he got out of the wall, James was in this dark area with nothing.

"Lumos," James said, and he was facing the ladder Guillory must have been describing. However, he heard two voices from above that he could not believe he was hearing.

"Lily?" James shouted.

"James!" came a voice from above that James recognized to be his sister's. "James! Where are you?"

"I'm down here," James yelled back.

"Fred—go back down," Lily commanded. James heard Fred groan. He must have agreed, though, because the sound of feet climbing grew louder and louder. James stepped back and watched as his family all reached the ground.

Fred was the first one down. "It's good to see you," Fred said to James, evidently trying to act like he wasn't too worried. Lily, the next one down, just ran up to james and hugged him.

"I was so worried," Lily said. "I thought you were gone forever."  
>"It's okay, Lily," James replied. "We're all fine. We're all safe."<br>Soon, the rest of the family was down and they shared a big hug. "Is everyone here?" James asked Fred.

"No," Fred responded. "I don't know where our parents are. They went to search for you too, but we couldn't find them."

"Well, let's go up, then," James said. "Guillory said this ladder goes to the sixth floor. The Third Task should have started already, and I can't miss it."

"Did you just say Guillory?" Fred asked, but James had started climbing already.

"I'll explain later!" James shouted back. Fred sighed in exasperation, but climbed after his friend.

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><p><strong>Please review? I'll update faster if I get a lot of reviews.<strong>


	32. Chapter 31

**This week seemed to go on forever. Soooo much work. So I couldn't update during the week.**

**But, I promised all you readers that I would update at least once a week. So here's the weekly update!**

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><p>The climb seemed to go on forever. It took about five minutes to finally reach the top.<p>

"The ladder ends here!" James shouted from above. "I can feel a roof above, but I don't think there's any way to get out!"

Dominique, who was near the middle of the Potters/Weasleys, heard a faint rustle from above. Then there was a loud 'pop' sound.

"There's a trapdoor!" James shouted, as light streamed in. James started climbing up, and the rest of the family followed.

When Dominique finally left the ladder, she was in the strange room on the sixth floor. They waited until everyone left the ladder.

"That was a long climb," Lucy said, stepping out from the trapdoor.

"Yeah," Dominique nodded in agreement. She stepped toward the trapdoor, which was lying sideways on a hinge. It was in plain view; she wondered how they had not seen it before, even if it was closed. Wouldn't the lines on the side be visible?

"So," James was saying. "We should go to the river right now. The Third Task started already."

"Wait a minute," Dominique interrupted. "Our parents. They're still down there somewhere, trapped."

James frowned. "So what do you want to do?"

"Look for them, of course," Dominique replied. "We can't just leave them there. The person who kidnapped you is going to do something to them."

James opened his mouth to say something, but Rose interrupted. "Dominique's right. We should go look for them. But you have to go to the Third Task right now; you need to win the Tournament."

James nodded. "I guess so. Anyone want to come with me?"

In the end, Oliver, Fred, Victoire, Molly, Albus, Louis, and Lorcan agreed to go with James.

"Lily, you and Hugo should come too," James said. "It might be dangerous going back down. You're only first years."

"So? I can still fight," Lily responded defiantly. "Besides, all we'll have to do is climb down the ladder and back up. It's not much. And it's more exciting that just watching the Third Task. We probably won't be able to see anything."

Hugo nodded in agreement.

James sighed. "Fine, then. Go with them. I don't have the time to argue."

Lily squealed. "Thank you James!" She hugged her eldest brother.

James looked embarrassed. "Okay, Lily. I gotta go now. See you later."

"Bye." James and the others left the room.

"Right," said Teddy. "Let's do this."

They got back down into the trapdoor with their wands lighted. Dominique was the first one down, followed by Teddy and then the others.

"So how are we going to find our parents?" Lily asked as they climbed.

"You know how this area is filled with rooms?" Dominique said. "Like our room, and the one James came from? I bet if we scream really loudly, our parents will be able to hear us. We know they're hear, since back up on the sixth floor we could hear them."

"Oh, okay," Lily said. "So should we all scream now?"

"Sure."

The next few minutes they all shouted as loud as they could. "Mom!" Dominique shouted. "Dad! Where are you? We're here!"

Dominique wasn't sure, but she thought she heard something. "Shh," she said to her cousins, and they stopped shouting. "I heard something."

"Hello?" came a faint voice from down below to the right.

"Dad?" Lily said in awe.

"Lily?"

"Where are you?" Lily shouted. "We've been looking for you!" To Dominique, Lily said, "Can you climb down? Our parents are below us."

Dominique nodded and started climbing down the ladder. "We were trapped!" Harry shouted back. "And now we're in this room and can't get out!"

"Just say diffindo to the walls!" Lily shouted back. "That's what we did! And it worked!"

"How did you get here in the first place?" said a voice, but Dominique could hear something blasting into pieces.

"We did it!" Harry shouted back. "What next?"

"Just jump out!" Lily said. "I know it's scary, but it worked for us! Just do a cushioning charm!"

"Are you sure?"

"Positive!"

Dominique heard a scuttling of feet and then Harry's voice. "I'm going first."

"We'll meet you at the bottom," Dominique shouted. In a rush to get to the bottom, she gripped the sides of the ladder with her hands and feet and slid down. It was a much more efficient way of moving.

"You know what?" Lucy said all of a sudden. "Why don't we just jump down too? It'll be much quicker!"

"Do you know how to do a cushioning charm?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, if you really want, you can," Teddy replied. "Have fun."

Lucy jumped off the ladder and flew by. Lysander, without a second glance, jumped down after her.

"Teddy, can you go down and do a cushioning spell for me?" Lily asked. "I don't know how to do the charm, but I really want to jump down. I want to do some flips this time."

Teddy groaned. "I didn't really want to jump down, but I'll do it for you, Lily," Teddy said. "I'll be down at the bottom whenever you're ready."

"Thanks, Teddy," Lily said as Teddy jumped down. Lily waited for a few seconds, and then jumped down after him. She did some flips and spins in the air.

Dominique chuckled, but continued sliding down. She looked up and realized that she and Hugo were the only ones who were still talking the ladder. "Hey, Hugo," she said. "You should try sliding down. It's so much faster."

"Thanks, Dominique, but I think I'll take the old fashioned way," Hugo replied. "I don't really like heights that much."

Dominique shrugged.

When she finally reached the bottom, Teddy, Lily, Lucy, and Lysander were already there, along with Harry and Ron. Lily was hugging her father, and Teddy was talking to Ron about what happened.

"How did you know to jump down?" Ron was asking.

Teddy shrugged. "Lucy was the one who discovered the outside, and I just guessed on jumping."

"I don't understand how all of you managed to escape while we didn't," Ron said, shaking his head. "And we're 3 times as old as all of you."

"Sometimes you over think it," Teddy replied.

Dominique watched above as Ginny, Hermione, and Percy all reached the floor. Finally, her father got there.

"Dad!" Dominique said, running to Bill. "We decided to go find James because we wanted to help too, but then we got trapped in this room and we decided to jump and then we found James and then we got back up and then we decided to save you…" Dominique took a pause to take a breath.

"Slow down," Bill said. "We have time later to talk."

"Sorry," Dominique replied. "I'm just so happy to see you."

"Me too," Bill said, and gave her daughter a hug.

When everyone was back down, Teddy gave a quick summary of what had happened. "So now we should probably go back up so we can make it to the Third Task."

"Good idea," Harry said. "I don't want to miss my son's big event. So we just climb the ladder to get there?"

Teddy nodded. "Just follow us."

They started climbing.

* * *

><p>James ran as fast as he could toward the river outside. There was a big stadium next to the river, but it was empty. Nobody was there.<p>

"Where is everyone?" James asked himself, but them he spotted Fournier walking back and forth down the river. He ran toward the judge. "Um, excuse me?"

"James!" Fournier exclaimed. "You finally showed up! Your father said that you disappeared. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," James replied. "But where is everyone? Did the task start yet?"

"Miss Caron entered the river about ten minutes ago," Fournier said. "All the onlookers went toward the stadium on the opposite side of the school, since that's where it's going to end. I just stayed here in case you came."

"Yeah. So, can I go in right now? Or is it too late?"

"You can go in now," Fournier answered. "But are you sure you're okay? I mean, getting kidnapped and all…"

"I'm fine," James insisted. "Really. I just want to start the task."  
>Fournier raised his eyebrows. "You really want to win, don't you?"<p>

James nodded. "Badly."

"Well," Fournier said, walking back toward the start of the river. "I decided, to add a bit of fun, that the champions should enter the water with this." He pointed to the giant waterslide at the entrance to the river.

"Wow, that sounds fun," Fred commented. "I wish I could go on it."

James turned and remembered that Fred and the others were still there. "You guys should go to the stadium where everyone else is," James said. "I'll see you later."  
>"Good luck," they all said, but they left.<p>

James followed Fournier to the waterslide. "So, do I just start now?" he asked.

Fournier nodded. "Whenever you're ready. It was supposed to be that you'd get to go first, since you were in first place, but you were late, so you couldn't get your advantage."

James nodded. He climbed up the steps to the top of the waterslide, and prepared to go down. Then he realized that he didn't have his Gillyweed. "Damn it," James whispered. He had planned to get the Gillyweed _and _his Nimbus 2006, which were in his tent, right before dinner. But, since Guillory had kidnapped him, he'd forgotten to go back. "What time is it?" James called to Fournier.

"The task started fifteen minutes ago!" Fournier shouted back.

James groaned. He didn't have time to run back to his tent. "Accio Gillyweed!" he shouted. Nothing happened. He waited for another 10 seconds, but nothing. Well, he'd just have to swim in the water without gillyweed.

James pushed himself forward and slid down the slide. He entered the water, and began swimming.

The only good thing about being late was that the other champions had already battled the creatures in the water. By the time James arrived, there were barely any creatures left. It was an easy swim in the river, especially since the current pushed him along. On his whole ride, James only encountered two merpeople and one Grindylow, which he easily fought off. By the time he reached the end of the river, only ten minutes had passed. That was good.

James got out of the water and quickly dried himself with his wand. Madame Maxime was standing nearby, doing what, James didn't know.

"You got here after all?" Madame Maxime asked James.

"Yep," James replied. "So where do I go next?"

Madame Maxime pointed up toward the trees. "Fly above the trees that are painted blue until you reach the next step. Professor McGonagall will tell you what to do next."

"Thanks," James said, walking over to where three broomsticks were lying on the ground. The school broomsticks were terrible compared to his Nimbus 2006, but they would have to do. Just for the fun of it, James tried summoning his broom, but nothing happened. "Excuse me?" James asked, while picking up one broomstick. "Do you know when the champions got here?"

"Mademoiselle Caron got here about five minutes ago," Maxime explained. "And Rosencrantz about ten."

"Thanks," James said again, and then kicked off. He soared into the air, but flying just felt wrong. This broom kept on veering toward the left, and James had to tilt the broom toward the right just so he could go straight.

A large hooded creature floated toward him. James reacted on instinct; "Expecto Patronum!" he shouted, thinking of winning the Tournament and—somewhat subtly—killing Guillory. A stag shout out of his wand and flew toward the dementor, pushing it back. While it was struggling, James quickly flew by. He was amazed that the Tournament would actually use dementors – weren't they dangerous? Shrugging, James flew on.

A few minutes later, James was forced to accept that there was no way he would win the tournament. His broom just went too slow; there was no way he would be able to catch up to Rosencrantz, who probably rode a really good broom. Well, maybe with a little hope, James would be able to go into second place.

All of a sudden, a small red bird flew toward him. James wasn't sure what to do; it looked so small and innocent. However, innocent things usually turned out to be vicious, so James took out his wand and prepared to stun the bird. Then he saw what the bird was holding.

"A broomstick?" James asked in awe. As if it could hear him, the bird nodded. James veered down and took the broomstick from the bird. It was a _Firebolt. _James didn't know anyone except his father who owned one. Could it really be his father's?

A Pixie flew toward James, and he prepared to stun it, but the bird turned around and lashed out at the Pixie, poking it in its eyes. As it flew, its wings shone bright red against the setting sun. "Fawkes," James said softly. After Dumbledore had died, Fawkes had flown away on his own for a few years, but eventually he found Harry and settled with him.

James hopped from the old school broom to the _Firebolt _and flew on it, rejoiced with the luck he was given. Fawkes flew along beside him, helping James attack whichever beasts were approaching them. James was making great distance with this broom.

Up ahead he saw another person on a broom halted in midair, trying to attack another Pixie. James curved around, seeing the face to be Aimee Caron's, and passed her. In his mind, James was celebrating; he was one step closer to winning the Triwizard Tournament.

The flying portion was almost over. There was a clearing ahead, and a person was standing there. James flew down, but Fawkes didn't follow. "Thanks, Fawkes," James said to the Phoenix. Fawkes sang in reply a beautiful note that filled James's heart with hope, and then it flew off. "Thank, you, Dad," James whispered.

He landed next to Professor McGonagall. The Headmistress turned to James with wide eyes. "Where in the world have you been, Potter?"

"I was kidnapped," James replied. "By this crazy wandmaker. But I'll tell you later; I don't have time right now."

James could tell that McGonagall wanted to ask him to recount his tale, but she managed to hold the urge in until later. "Fine, then," she said. "I hope Hogwarts can get a victory."

"Thanks, Professor," James said. "Can you look after my broomstick?"

She nodded, taking the _Firebolt _from him. "Just follow this path," McGonagall explained, "And the Triwizard Cup should be ahead."

"Thanks," James said again, and began running.

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><p><strong>So, predictions? Will James win the tournament or not?<strong>

**As you can tell, the end of the story is pretty close. So do any of you think I should write a sequel or not? Because if I'm going to write a sequel, I might leave some of the details unknown until the next story. So, any thoughts?**

**There's going to be at least 2 or 3 more chapters, though, before this story ends.  
><strong>


	33. Chapter 32

**So I've gotten 2 reviews of people saying they want a sequel... Anyone else? I think I'll write a sequel (I'm trying to set this chapter up for one), but if I get at least 5 people saying they'd enjoy a sequel, I'll definitely write one.**

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><p>Never before had James wanted anything so bad. True, he had wanted to win the Quidditch Cup many times before, but winning the Triwizard Tournament was different. It would not only grant him the joy of winning and helping take part in a victory, but it was also grant him 1000 galleons and eternal glory. This time, he could say he did it all by himself.<p>

James ran as fast as he could down the path. He was a pretty good athlete, since he played Quidditch a lot, and could run a mile under 5 minutes. The path was really narrow, with trees on either side, with only enough space for two people to walk without brushing into the trees. James kept his wand out for any creatures.

A couple of creatures popped out from the trees, but James quickly shot stunning spells at them as he ran past. He had run for about five minutes already, and should almost be at the cup.

The path got wider and wider until it eventually led into a clearing. About 500 meters ahead of him, James could see Anton Rosencrantz slowly walking toward the cup, which was about 200 meters in front of him. James could not believe his luck. Evidently Rosencrantz believed that James and Caron were no competition for him, so he could take his time.

"Muffliato," James whispered, pointing his wand toward Rosencrantz. Then he quietly jogged toward Rosencrantz until he could get close enough to get a good shot at the Durmstrang champion. Once he was within good distance, James pointed his wand at Rosencrantz and shouted "Stupefy!"

A shot of red light shot from James to Rosencrantz, but the other champion heard James's voice and ducked to the side, avoiding the spell. Rosencrantz then straightened up and sprinted toward the cup.

"No!" shouted James, and cast a nonverbal stunning charm. Rosencrantz dodged it again, but he turned around to face James, with a glare in his eyes.

"You want to duel?" he asked in a low and menacing voice.

James nodded. "Whoever wins gets the cup."

James and Rosencrantz stared each other in the eye and then bowed. But as James was bending, Rosencrantz left and sprinted toward the cup again. James, now deeply infuriated, shouted the first thing that came to his head. "_Fiendyfire!"_

A huge mass of fire shot out of his wand and arched itself toward Rosencrantz. It changed into a snake, with it's tongue poking out to go touch the champion.

"What did you do?" Rosencrantz asked in shock, running away from the fire, which now turned to go toward the Triwizard Cup.

"I didn't mean to!" James shouted back over the roar of the fire. "I just cast the first spell that popped in my head!"

"Then cast the countercharm!" Rosencrantz shouted. "Now! Or we'll all burn to death!"

"I can't remember what it is!" James said. The fire had now already overwhelmed the Triwizard Cup and its pedestal, and was now traveling toward the two champions. James backed away to the trees, but he could still feel the heat. He tried to think of the countercurse. For some reason, it was always in instances in which he needed to know a spell that he forgot it.

"Alright, I think I got it!" James said.

"Hurry up!" Rosencrantz cried in desperation. He had been trying to use water to put it out, but it hadn't worked.

"If I cast it, you'll have to let me win the Tournament!" James shouted back.

Rosencrantz hesitated for a second but then agreed. "Fine."

James shouted the countercurse at the top of his lungs. Slowly, the fire began dimming and dimming, until only the tongue of the snake was left, flickering feebly. Then it went out.

Rosencrantz coughed and walked over to what was left. The grass had all blackened, and the pedestal that the Triwizard Cup was on was charred, but the Triwizard Cup remained perfectly unharmed. "Strange," James said, examining it but without touching it. "Well, you promised you'd let me win if I preformed the countercurse."

Rosencrantz sighed. "Can't we just make it a tie?"

James thought for a minute. He desperately wanted to shout back 'No!' but he knew that if he was Rosencrantz, he would have been incredibly angry with himself. "I don't know," James said slowly. "I want this a lot."

"You don't think I need it too?" Rosencrantz demanded. "Your family already has a lot of money, and you're all famous. You only _want _to win this; you don't _need _it. I need it. My family, back in Norway, barely has enough money to feed themselves. I have two little sisters in first and third year; it's good that they get to go to Durmstrang during the school year but during the summer they barely have food to eat."

That was the longest speech James had ever heard Rosencrantz make. He didn't know what to say.

"You know what?" Rosencrantz suggested. "Just give me 100 galleons; 1/10th of your Triwizard winnings. Please. It's only a tenth of the winnings, but it'll help my family for a year."

"No." James stood up and stared back at Rosencrantz.

The Durmstrang champion looked miserable. "Fine, be that way. Don't help me at all." He turned around.

"No, I meant I'll give you more that 100 galleons," James said. "You can have take all the money. You're right, I don't need it. You need it more than I do."

"What?" Rosencrantz asked in confusion. "That's so much money! You don't want any of it?"

"I'll take 100 galleons," James said. "But I'll give it to St. Mungo's, so they can cure more people."

"Are you sure?" Rosencrantz asked.

James nodded. "I don't need it. But we can take the cup together; we can bring glory to both our schools."

Rosencrantz's face erupted into a smile. "Thanks a lot, James."

James gave a weak grin. "No problem, Anton. So on three?"

"Three, two, one," they counted together. On the one, they both touched the Triwizard Cup, and then flew into the air.

They landed in the stadium. Nearby, Fournier was standing, looking anxiously around at the crowd. Then he spotted James and Rosencrantz.

"Two champions?" he asked in awe.

Rosencrantz shrugged. "It was thanks to James. He let me win too."

Fournier looked from James to Rosencrantz in confusion. "Well, then we'll have two champions."

James looked around and saw Fred and Oliver in the front row, applauding for him. He saw his father and mother close by too, standing up and cheering. All the members of the wizarding community were applauding. It was a wonderful sight.

Perhaps it was Guillory kidnapping him or the effort of the Triwizard Tournament, but James felt worn out. He waved back at the crowd, but his legs gave in and he collapsed.

* * *

><p>"He's awake!" Lily cried.<p>

Rose, Albus, and Scorpius, who had been talking quietly in the corner of the Hospital Wing, came running back toward James's bed. "He's awake?" Rose asked.

Lily nodded. She had been watching James for the whole morning, waiting for him to wake up. Little sisters were always like that when it came to their brothers; they cared about them a lot.

James rubbed his eyes. "Where am I?"

"Hospital wing," Albus responded. "You fainted after the Third Task but they brought you to the Hospital Wing. You've been here for about half a day. It's almost noon already; the task was yesterday."

"Apparently you and Rosencrantz tied for first place," Rose explained. "Rosencrantz's being saying that you promised him 900 galleons, but nobody believed him. Is that true?"

James nodded. "Yeah. I don't need it."

Lily raised her eyebrows. "Really?"

"Yeah, really," James said. "Where's Dad? I need to talk to him."

"He's talking to Professor McGonagall," Lily replied. "I'll go get him." She ran out of the room.

"So what really happened?" Albus asked. "With the whole kidnapping and all?"

"Just wait until Dad gets here," James responded. "Then I won't need to repeat it all."

Rose wanted to say something, but Scorpius looked at her meaningfully, and she closed her mouth. The four of them sat there quietly, waiting.

The door of the Hospital Wing opened and Rose looked back, expecting Harry and Ginny to walk in, but it was Fred and Oliver instead. Fred ran over to his best friend. "James! You're alive again!"

"I was never dead," James said, rolling his eyes, but Fred ignored him.

"Where's the 1000 galleons?" he asked. "Can I have some of it?"

"Come on Fred, he just woke up," Oliver said. "He needs rest."

"Nah, people don't need rest," Fred replied, but the door opened again and this time, Harry, Ginny, Lily, and Professor McGonagall entered the Hospital Wing.

"See, he's awake," Lily was saying as they walked.

Harry walked over to his son. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Monsieur Guillory," James said. "He wanted my wand."

"Wait," Ginny interrupted. "The children shouldn't be here. They don't need to know this."

"What?" Albus asked in protest. "We're already fourteen! We're not little kids anymore!"

Harry gave Albus an angry stare, but James interjected. "No, they need to know," James responded. "It concerns all of them, especially Scorpius."

All faces turned to the boy. "What do you mean?" Scorpius asked in shock. "Why?"

"It's a long story," James said. He looked at his father. "You should get the rest of our family."

Harry shook his head. "No, I'll just tell them later. You quickly tell us what happened and then get some rest."

"Fine," James said. "You know how I always thought Moreau was acting kind of suspicious? It turns out that he was being paid by Guillory to follow me and make sure I wasn't doing anything stupid, like breaking my wand. Apparently my wand belonged to Severus Snape."

"No!" Harry said, shocked. "It can't be. Snape died in the shrieking shack, and his wand was left there forever. You bought your wand from Ollivander's."

"Ollivander was a strange man," James explained. "You know that. He had a habit of going around and picking up old wands and collecting them. My wand must have been Snape's." James picked up his wand from his nightstand.

"There's only one way to make sure," Professor McGonagall said. "Priori Incantato. The reverse-spell effect."

"What's that?" Rose asked, but Professor McGonagall was already whispering something and staring at the wand in awe.

"It is Snape's wand," McGonagall said in shock, placing the wand back down on the nightstand. "But I still don't understand why Guillory would want it."

"According to him, he kidnapped me so that he could take my wand and give it to somebody else," James said. "Guillory said that he wanted my wand because somebody paid him to do so."

"Who?" Harry asked.

"Draco Malfoy," James responded. As on cue, everyone turned to Scorpius again.

"I didn't know!" Scorpius said indignantly. "I didn't plan this!"

"We're not blaming you," Harry said. "You're not responsible for anything your father did."

"But why would Draco want Snape's wand in the first place?" McGonagall asked.

James shrugged. "I don't know. If you want, you can go question Guillory. I left him in ropes at the bottom of the series of rooms under the sixth floor."

"Okay," Harry said. "You stay right here. You need rest. We'll go find him ourselves."

"No, I'm fine!" James insisted. "Besides, you won't know where Guillory is, anyway."

"Can we come?" Rose asked. "Please?"

"Alright," Harry replied. He stood up. "Let's go."

Harry, Ginny, Professor McGonagall, James, Lily, Rose, Scorpius, and Albus—Fred and Oliver had chosen to stay—headed up toward the sixth floor. "Where's Moreau?" Albus asked his father as they walked.

"In the Hall," Harry responded. "We couldn't find a way to convict him guilty of anything. He said that he was being blackmailed by Guillory into doing it, and he said that under the Truth Potion."

Albus shrugged. "That's a shame."

They walked toward the sixth floor, Lily leading in front. Rose and Scorpius trailed at the back of the group.

"I'll open the door," Lily said, bringing a rock out of her pocket. Then she closed her eyes and walked back and forth three times. The door opened again.

As she entered the room for the second time, Rose felt a sense of dread, even though she didn't know where it came from. But sure enough, as they walked over to the spot where the trapdoor had lain open, it was now closed.

"Where'd it go?" Lily asked in surprise. "You didn't close the trapdoor, did you?"

Harry shook his head. "No…" He bent down and examined the ground. There were four lines going around the floor, making a rectangle. Harry tried to pull it open, but the floor wouldn't budge.

"Oh, I'll do it," Professor McGonagall said, and she waved her wand. Magically, the trapdoor rose out of the floor and revealed a dark passageway.

"Oh, right, thanks," Harry said. "But I wonder why it's closed…"

"Let's go!" Lily cried impatiently.

"Is it far down?" McGonagall asked.

"Yeah, a bit," James responded.

"I think I'll just stay here," McGonagall said. "I'm not as strong as I was twenty years ago."

"I'll stay with you," Ginny agreed. "Just in case something happens."

The rest of them descended the ladder again. It was a pretty quick climb down.

"Lumos," Rose whispered, and her wand light up. She walked around. "James, where is Guillory?"

"I pulled his body out of that room and left it at the bottom of the ladder," James replied. "But it's not here…"

They searched for a few more minutes but had to conclude that Guillory was gone. "Wait, sorry," James said. "I just remembered; I didn't leave Guillory here. I left him in this white room where I had to stay for about two hours."

"How do you get in?" Rose asked.

"Watch," James replied. He motioned for Rose to come over. "You have to think of the phrase 'Mudbloods are bad' as you walk through." James walked over to an empty space, walked a few feet, and then disappeared.

Rose thought of that revolting phrase but did the same as James had done. "Whoa," she said, examining this room. "It's so white."

James nodded. "But… Guillory's gone."

"What?" Rose exclaimed. "Did you leave him here?"

"Yeah," James answered. "I left him in ropes. But he's gone."

Rose and James left the room and returned to the darkness. "Guillory's gone," James said.

"Are you sure?" Harry asked.

James nodded. "Yeah. Do you want to make sure?"

"That would be nice."

James repeated the instructions to his father, and then Harry entered the room. Five minutes later, he came out. "He _is _gone," Harry said. "But where could he have gone?"

James shrugged. "Anywhere. I don't know."

"Well, let's just go back to the Hospital Wing," Harry said. "You stay there and rest. I'll go find Draco Malfoy and question him."

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><p><strong>PLEASE review! I only got 4 reviews last chapter... I've gotten 8 before, so I know all you readers out there can do better! Was the last chapter not exciting or what? All your feedback is valuable. <strong>


	34. Chapter 33

**This is the penultimate chapter! Well, the next one's an epilogue so this is really the last chapter. But thank you so much to everybody who read or reviewed the last chapter! It got the most reviews so far! And since I've gotten 9 people saying they want a sequel, I will write one! It's going to be about their next year...**

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><p>"Please!" Lily begged. "<em>Please <em>can I come?"

Harry shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, Lily-flower, but you can't come."

Lily pouted. "Why not?"

"Well, first of all, I'm going to be questioning Draco Malfoy a lot, and it might not be a good time for you to be watching," Harry replied. "You know, we were kind of enemies at school. Why don't you just stay here with the rest of your cousins?"

"But why does Scorpius get to go?"

"Because Scorpius is Draco's _son_," Harry responded."He wants to talk to his father, so this is the perfect time. And besides, he knows where his father works, so I can just follow him."

Lily sighed. "Fine. But you'd better come back soon and tell me everything that happened."

"I will." Harry gave his daughter a hug and then walked toward the exit of Beauxbatons with Scorpius at his side. When Harry had said that he was going to question Draco, Scorpius had asked if he could come too, just to talk to his father. Harry had agreed.

They walked in silence toward the boundaries of Beauxbatons, where apparition would be allowed. It was awkward for Harry to walk with his old archenemy's son, so he tried to make small talk. "So, Scorpius," Harry said. "How is school?"

"It's good," Scorpius replied. "How's your work?"

"Oh, it's busy," Harry answered. "Last week there were these two wizards who stunned an elderly woman walking in Diagon Alley. She was badly injured, and is still in St. Mungo's Today; it's lucky she didn't die, considering how old she is. We sent three Aurors to track the two who stunned her, and it took a long time to find them."

"Whoa," Scorpius commented. "Your job sounds interesting."

"Have you decided what you want to be when you grow up?" Harry asked.

Scorpius shook his head. "I don't know yet."

They arrived at the gate that surrounded Beauxbatons. Harry pushed it open, and let Scorpius through first. "Have you ever apparated before?" he asked Scorpius.

"No," Scorpius replied. "Is it painful?"

Harry laughed. "No, not really. It's just a bit uncomfortable when you first start apparating. Then you get used to it."

Harry held out his hand for Scorpius to hold for side-along apparition, and then he turned. For a second, the air was squeezed out of him, but then he managed to breath again.

Scorpius was coughing. "That was horrible!" he exclaimed. "I felt like I was going to die!"

Harry chuckled. "You'll get used to it."

They were now standing in the Atrium of the Ministry of Magic, which was bustling with wizards and witches, most of which were probably going home. Harry checked his watch. It was 5:22 pm, but, according to Scorpius, his father usually didn't get home until 6:30.

"Where does your father work?" Harry asked Scorpius.

"I'm not sure," Scorpius answered. "Sorry. I know it's somewhere on the fifth level."

"That's all right," Harry said. "I'll just ask Robert."

He strode up toward the welcome desk, where Robert White, the receptionist, was sitting. "Hello," White said as Harry and Scorpius approached.

"Good afternoon," Harry replied. "Do you know where Draco Malfoy's office is?"

"Draco Malfoy?" White repeated, eying Scorpius suspiciously. "Hmm." He pulled out a book and began flipping through it. "Why do you need to see him?"

"I just need to ask him something," Harry replied. He watched as White searched through the book. "He should be on the fifth floor," Harry added. "I'm just not sure what office."

After a few seconds, White closed the book. "You're right, he is with the Department of International Magical Cooperation. You should try room 523."

"Thanks Robert," Harry said, and headed off toward the lifts. He and Scorpius got into an empty one, and took it to the fifth floor.

"The Ministry is so nice," Scorpius said. "Even the lifts are decorated nicely. It's all gold."

"You've never been here before?" Harry asked, surprised. He thought that Draco would have brought his son to the Ministry many times.

"Only once," Scorpius replied. "A long time ago. "My Dad's usually too busy to take me anywhere." He said that nonchalantly, but Harry couldn't help but feel bad for him. Draco wasn't a very good father if he neglected his son like that.

The Bell dinged and the lift opened toward the Department of International Cooperation. Harry walked along the hallway, looking for Room 523. Only the high Ministry officials got offices, while the others got cubicles. Draco Malfoy was a respected member of the Department of International Cooperation, but Harry, being an Auror, rarely visited him. Their jobs differed a lot.

"This is it," Scorpius said, pointing to a door that had the number 523 engraved on it.

Harry nodded, and knocked on the door. Then he waited.

The door opened, and the face of Draco Malfoy appeared.

"Hello, Malfoy," Harry said calmly. Scorpius watched his father's expression.

"Hello, Potter," Draco responded. His face didn't betray any sign of emotion; it was like a blank stretch of wall. "What makes you come here?"

"I need to ask you a few questions," Harry replied. "It might take some time. May we come in?"

Draco nodded, and let the two others in. Scorpius stared around his father's office. It was so neat and orderly, much like his office back at home, in Malfoy Manor. His desk was full of papers all stacked in neat little piles. There weren't any decorations on the wall. The only photograph in the whole room was one picture of Draco, Astoria, and Scorpius smiling together, on the desk. Scorpius smiled a little, glad this his father had _something_ that had him in it.

"Sit down," Draco said to Harry, conjuring a chair out of the air. Harry sat down on it as Draco sat on his own chair. Scorpius looked around; there wasn't a chair for him to sit on.

"Here," Harry said, conjuring another chair for Scorpius, which appeared next to him.

"Thanks," Scorpius said, sitting down.

"So what do you want?" Draco asked.

Harry got straight to the point. "According to Monsieur Guillory, a wandmaker in France, you paid him to steal my son's wand."

Draco's face revealed nothing. "Why do you say that?"

"You haven't heard?" Harry asked. "About the kidnapping?"

"No," Draco said. "What kidnapping?"

Harry explained about Guillory and the whole chamber of rooms down below. When he was done, Draco sat still, looking as calm as ever.

"I'll repeat myself again," Draco said. "I did not pay Guillory to do anything. Why would I want Snape's wand?"

Scorpius watched as the two adults stared into each other's eyes, as if they were having a staring contest to see who could not blink the longest. Finally, Harry tore his gaze away. "Why would Guillory lie, then?" he asked.

"So he could have an excuse for hurting James?" Draco suggested. "I don't know. That's just my guess. But I did _not _pay him to get Snape's wand."

Harry stood up. "We'll be going then." He turned to Scorpius. "Did you want to talk to your father?"

Scorpius nodded. "Just for a few minutes."

"I'll be waiting outside," Harry said, and left the room.

Scorpius took a deep breath and stared at his father. "Dad," he began. "I have a confession to make."

Draco stared at his son. "What?"

"I…" Scorpius began. "I didn't stay at Beauxbatons for Easter. I went to The Burrow with the whole Weasley family."

It was true. Scorpius had told Rose and Albus that he had written to his father and he'd agreed, but in reality, Scorpius had been too frightened to do so. Instead, he'd lied and pretended that his father had agreed, when in fact, he didn't write to Draco at all.

Draco stood up, towering over his son. "Scorpius Hyperion Malfoy," he said in a condescending tone. "Are you saying you lied to me? That you went over to all the Potters and Weasleys for Easter without telling me?"

"Yes," Scorpius replied. "But I don't care. Dad, you don't scare me anymore. I'm already fourteen years old; I can do whatever I want."

"No, you cannot," Draco commanded. "I am your father, which means that I have control over what you can and cannot do. And because you disobeyed me during Easter, you're going to be grounded for the whole summer. No owls or letters to your _friends_. You're not going to be let out of the house at all."

Scorpius shook his head. "No. Dad, why do you think I would tell you about Easter if I didn't plan to do anything about it? I _knew _you'd ground me. But I'm not going to listen. See, going to The Burrow was the best experience I'd ever had. Everyone there was so nice to each other. It was one big happy family. Nobody was mean at all. It's just so much better than our home."

Scorpius paused for a minute, but his father didn't seem like he was going to say anything. So he continued. "I just don't understand," Scorpius said. "I don't know why you can't be like that. Ever since I was young, I've always wanted to please you. I've wanted to make you proud of me. But now, I realize, I can't. You're just this mean person who I'll never be able to please."

He got up and headed toward the door. Scorpius was about to open the door when he heard his father's voice. "You're still grounded, you know," Draco said. "You're going to have to come home this summer no matter if you want it or not. I'm going to make sure that you don't go off to any of your friends' houses."

Scorpius turned and gave his father a smile. "Okay, Dad." Then he turned the knob and left the office, leaving Draco there by himself.

* * *

><p>The students all piled into the Hall for the Concluding Ceremony of the Triwizard Tournament. James stayed behind, looking for his father. Harry should be returning from the Ministry any minute.<p>

Finally, James saw his father with Scorpius, entering the entrance hall in a rush. "Dad!" James said, rushing over to Harry. "What happened?"

"I'll tell you later," Harry replied. "Let's go into the Hall and eat first."

James agreed, and the three of them walked into the busy Hall where all the students were sitting. Most of the seats were already full, so the three of them sat together at the back of the room, away from the rest of the Weasley family. As soon as they sat down, Madame Maxime stood up.

"Welcome!" she said. "The Triwizard Task has finally ended yesterday, and we must celebrate the victories of the champions."

"In third place," Madame Maxime began. "Is Aimee Caron of Beauxbatons Academy!"

All the students clapped politely, with the Beauxbatons ones cheering loudly. Madame Maxime motioned for Caron to stand up, and she did, beaming.

"Tied for first place," Madame Maxime continued, when all the applause had died down. "Are James Potter of Hogwarts School and Anton Rosencrantz of Durmstrang Academy!"

This time, the applause was even louder. James nervously stood up, and saw, nearby, that Rosencrantz was standing too. James caught Rosencrantz's eye and grinned. Rosencrantz grinned back.

"So, we need some decoration!" Madame Maxime said. She flicked her wand, and banners appeared all along the walls. On the left were the banners of Durmstrang, and on the right, were the banners for Hogwarts. Madame Maxime gave another flick of her wand and food appeared on all the tables.

"I just realized I had never congratulated you, James," Harry said as he helped himself to some food. "All this worry about Guillory and Snape has delayed the celebrations."

James shrugged. "I never thanked you either. You were the one who sent the Firebolt, right?"

Harry nodded.

"Thanks a lot," James said. "Without it, I wouldn't have been able to win the Tournament."

James piled his plate with food and started eating. He hadn't realized how hungry he'd been until now. As he ate, he watched Scorpius staring into space, not touching his plate.

"Hey, Scorpius," James said. "Are you not hungry?"

Scorpius blinked. "Oh, yeah, sorry. I was just thinking." He stabbed a fork into a piece of chicken and slowly chewed.

James chose not to think about whatever Scorpius could possibly be thinking. Instead, he turned to his father. "So, what happened at the Ministry?"

"Malfoy said that he didn't tell Guillory anything," Harry replied. "He acted like he didn't know anything about everything. The problem is, he wasn't lying. At least, when I used Legilmency, I couldn't tell that he was lying."

"But doesn't Malfoy know Occulmency too?" James said. "So he could have been lying but just covered himself."

"I just don't know," Harry said, sighing. "The only way to solve this all is to find Guillory. But he just disappeared."

"Let's just forget about this whole mess," James suggested. "It doesn't matter. Everything's fine now."

Harry nodded. "But if Guillory ever appears again, I'm going to question him, hard."

"Thanks, Dad," James said.

They ate in silence until the food disappeared. Madame Maxime stood up again. "Thank you everyone for coming to Beauxbatons this year. This year's Triwizard Tournament has been a tremendous success. Inter-school friendships have grown and there have been no serious injuries. Tonight is the last time all of our three schools will be together. So have a wonderful summer."

Everyone stood up, cheering. James pushed through the crowd to find the rest of his family. "James!" Lily said, seeing him from far away. "Congratulations!"

Then everyone else was there. Fred, Oliver, Dominique, Roxanne, Molly, Lucy, Louis, the Scamander twins, Rose, Albus, Hugo… And then all his aunts and uncles. Soon the rest of the Hogwarts students were all hugging and celebrating and laughing together.

Soon, when all the celebrations were mostly over, James sat down on one of the benches connected to the long tables. He was surprised when Rosencrantz walked over and sat down next to him. "Enjoying all this?" he asked.

James shrugged. "Sort of."

"Look," Rosencrantz said. "I just want to thank you right now. You could have just took the cup and enjoyed all the glory yourself. But you didn't. You let me win too, and then you gave me most of the money."

"It's fine," James replied. "I already have a lot of money."

The two of them sat together and watched the hall slowly empty out. "So," James said awkwardly. "How's Norway?"

"It's nice," Rosencrantz responded. "Very cold, though." He and James talked about their own schools, and about their family and friends. It was interesting to hear about another Wizarding school in a different country.

Eventually, the hall emptied out. "So," Rosencrantz said, preparing to get up. "See you later, then."

"I don't think I'm ever going to see you again," James said. "Maybe in the far future, but not for a while. We're going back to our separate schools tomorrow."

Rosencrantz shrugged. "Well, goodbye then. It was nice meeting you."

James wanted to say something, but he didn't know what to say. He watched as Rosencrantz walked away. "Wait!" James shouted. "This is you're last year, right?"

"Yeah," Rosencrantz said.

"What are you doing after school?"

"I was originally planning to open a shop near my home so I could stay home to help my sisters," Rosencrantz answered. "But now since I've gotten all this money, I'm not sure. Perhaps I'll go join the Ministry and do something there."

"Good idea," James commented. "Well, let's keep in touch somehow. Do you have an owl?"

"Yeah," Rosencrantz replied. "I'll write to you about life next year if you write to me about seventh year."

"Sure," James said. "Well, see you some time later."

"Bye," Rosencrantz said, and left the room. James sat there in the Hall by himself. He sighed, then got up and went to the tent outside. It was time to pack and return back to Hogwarts, and eventually back home.

* * *

><p><strong>What did you think? Were Scorpius or Rosencrantz too out-of-character? Tell me in a review!<strong>

**So one more chapter before the sequel! I'm still not sure on a name for it, yet...**


	35. Epilogue

**A/N: This is the last chapter, so I felt like it would be proper to thank all of my readers and reviewers for following this story! After about 2 and a half months, it's finally over! So now I just have some individual people to thank:**

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><p><strong>chawk1993: Thank you so much for all your reviews! And thanks for pointing out what I messed up on; constructive criticism helps a lot. As for what the sequel entails, see the bottom of this chapter. (Oh, and you might see Astoria in the sequel.)<strong>

**ebonbon: Wow, you reviewed almost every chapter (starting with chapter 22, or somewhere around then). Thanks for all of your reviews and your compliments! This is the last chapter of this story… then the sequel will be up!**

**alwaysapotter: I'm still used to your old username, SaraHunterofArtemis. But I like your new one (it fits Harry Potter!). Anyway, you are my most reliable reviewer ever. You have reviewed every single chapter of my story with a long and insightful review. All of your reviews were about something that you liked/disliked and that helps a lot! So thank you sooooooo much. And as for your last review, let's just say that Rosencrantz is from the northernmost part of Norway. So it's cold. :)**

**Mirany.T: Thanks for reviewing! I know my updates are only weekly, but in the beginning they were daily so I think that made up! And I'm kind of busy, so I can't update every day anymore… but thanks again!**

**RoseWeasleyRoxX: "It just won't be the same without waking up to find that Eternal Glory has another chapter out" – that was funny! But you'll be able to wake up and see that the sequel has another chapter out! :) Thanks for all your reviews!**

**pepe200: Thanks for your reviews and compliments! You'll see more about Scorpius and his father in the sequel… I think. I'm still planning it out in my head. Thanks for your reviews again!**

**Ahsoka's Padawan: Thank you for your two reviews! And thanks for being able to read my whole story without getting bored! **

**Sora-Kun91094: I will make a sequel! And it's hard to update fast… Once a week isn't that slow; other writers update even more randomly. Thanks for reviewing though!**

**Miss R.E. Mulvey: I made a waterslide just for you! :) Thanks for reviewing! **

**Ms. Teddy Lupin: Thanks for all your reviews! I wanted to make the end of the Triwizard Tournament somewhat memorable, so I had James give most of the money to Rosencrantz. I'm glad that you liked that!**

**L-U-N-A-654: You have reviewed almost every single chapter of this story, starting from the beginning. Thank you so much! In the beginning, I barely got any reviews, but I knew I would get at least 2 (one from you and one from another person). So thanks so much for reviewing! **

**NegligibleNaina: Thanks for your reviews! Every one means a lot to me!**

**FatallyUnique: Thank you for reviewing! You reviewed my story and I reviewed yours... it's mutualism! (Sorry, I just learned about symbiosis in biology and that fit…) Anyway, thanks again! And your story is really good too! **

**Luniousa 07: Wow. Your reviews are really deep and long. Thanks – I'm glad you liked all the suspense (not many people do!). Thanks for all your compliments and reviews for this story… I hope you'll like the sequel too!**

**Hurricane Jackson: Thank you for your review! Every review makes a difference.**

**Nightkill: Thanks for reviewing. It's a good thing you didn't expect Guillory kidnapped James… I try to make my stories unpredictable. Thanks again!**

**DEDEBUG9: Thanks for reviewing twice! **

**MagicalNinjaUnicorn: Nope, its not a fake Neville. I loved the character of Neville so I wouldn't make him evil. But thanks for all your reviews!**

**MusicalFANtasy: Thank you for reviewing!**

**CK Geisener: Thanks for reviewing. And I'll write about Scorpius and the potter/Weasley family in the sequel, I promise.**

**Nell123: Thanks for your review and comments. I tried to fix all the mistakes, but I'm not british, so I might have made some without knowing it. But I try…**

**tommytank: Thanks for your reviews! And the answer to your questions are in the story.**

**fahionista521: Thanks for reviewing and answering my questions! **

**Yellowtail555: Your reviews were helpful! And thanks for giving me the suggestion of the triathlon for the third task… it was a really good idea!**

**AshleyM15, Lady Elizabeth of New York, Elisabeth Fray, chillyM: Thank you ALL for reviewing! I got too lazy to put separate reviews… but still, thank you. **

**KittyCat809: My first review ever! Thank you! The first review always matters the most!**

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><p><strong>I think I got everyone (that took a long time). If I didn't, sorry! But I value everyone's reviews. <strong>

**Oh and for anonymous reviews, I just want to thank all of you so much. Richasa, Julia, Harrypotterfan150150, Anon, EWAP, and RandOm pErson (wow, your review was long… I don't think the story will be Eternal Glory2 , but I'll make sure to say that it is the sequel to Eternal Glory). Thank you all!  
><strong>

**And thanks to all the story alerters and favoriters and other things…**

**Now enjoy the chapter! (Sorry for the really long A/N…)**

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><p>"Dominique, hurry up!" Charlotte shouted. "You're taking so long!"<p>

"I'm almost done," Dominique replied, stuffing a couple of stray socks into her suitcase. Then she zipped it up, and stood up.

"Finally," Charlotte said, jumping up and down. "Let's go. Molly and Roxanne already left."

Dominique rolled her eyes but followed her best friend from Hogwarts outside the tent. Charlotte was ahead, walking toward her two other friends. "Charlotte!" Dominique called. "Do you mind if I go back inside the castle? I just want to take one last look!"

"You could have told me earlier!" Charlotte said, but nodded. Dominique turned around and walked back toward Beauxbatons.

She pushed open the door and walked inside. The Hall was really empty; most of the students were about to go home. Dominique walked around the entrance hall, remembering the past year. It had gone by so quickly…

"Sorry," Dominique said, accidentally walking into somebody else. She looked up and saw that it was Clara. "Oh, hey," she said.

"Hi Dominique," Clara replied. "Are you just looking around?"

"Yeah," Dominique answered. "This is probably the last time I'll ever be here… I just want to look around one more time."

Clara nodded. "It's going to be so different next year. The Hall is going to be so much emptier, without all the Hogwarts and Durmstrang people. I'm not sure if that's a good or bad thing."

"I get what you mean," Dominique said, and she sighed. It was time to go back home and spend the summer with Victoire, who probably wouldn't talk to her at all.

"We should probably be going," Clara said. "Your train's probably leaving soon."

"Oh yeah," Dominique said. She took one last look at the hall, and then followed Clara outside. The two girls walked down toward the edge of Beauxbatons.

"Well, this is it," Dominique said.

"Yeah," Clara agreed. "So, how about a hug?"

"Sure," Dominique replied, and the two girls hugged. "I'm going to miss you a lot," Dominique said. "I've never met anybody like you."

"I'll miss you too," Clara responded. "But it's not like we'll never see each other again."  
>"It's not?"<p>

"Of course not," Clara said. "We can write to each other, and if you ever feel like it, we could floo over to each other's houses. I'm an only child, so summers get boring sometimes."

Dominique smiled. "That'd be nice. Well, see you."

They hugged one more time and departed. Dominique walked toward the Hogwarts Express, and got on near the back. She took one last look at Beauxbatons castle before she closed the door.

* * *

><p>The train finally started moving. Lily leaned against the window, watching the castle slowly disappear from view.<p>

"That was a fun first year," Hugo commented, sitting across from Lily.

"Yeah," Lily agreed. "I wonder what next year will be like."

"It can only get better, can't it?" Layla said.

The four of them—Lily, Layla, Hugo, and one of his friends, Connor—were sitting alone in a compartment. Lily hadn't felt like joining the rest of her cousins, who were probably loud and noisy; she wanted to enjoy the silence by herself.

"Lily!"

"What?"

"Hello?" Hugo called. "We're asking you if you want to play team Wizard's Chess."

"Oh yeah, sure," Lily replied. "But I'm partners with Layla."

Hugo smirked. "Really? Are you any good?" He directed the question to Layla.

"You'll see," she replied.

Ten minutes into the game, it was still not obvious who was winning. Lily and Connor were both horrible at chess, but Layla and Hugo were both good, so the two teams were evenly divided.

"What should I do?" Lily whispered to Layla. The rules of team Wizard's Chess were the same as one-on-one, but, instead, two people took turns playing. This time it was Lily's turn, and she wasn't sure what to do.

"That's cheating!" Connor said in protest. "You can't do that!"

"The rules never said we weren't allowed to," Lily responded, as Layla whispered something in Lily's ear. "Okay. Knight to E6."

The black knight moved in an L shape to a spot in front of the queen. "Hmm," Hugo said thoughtfully, watching the board. After a moment, he said, "Queen to E6."

The Pawn moved diagonally and bumped into the knight, breaking it into pieces. Lily scooped it up and placed the broken pieces on the empty seat next to her. "I'll have to ask my mum to repair it when I get home," Lily said. "I wish I could do magic now."

Now it was Layla's turn. She gave Hugo an evil grin and said, "Bishop to E6."

The Bishop moved and raised its axe to cut the Queen in two pieces. "Ha!" Layla announced. "I'm better than you."

"You only won because you helped Lily," Hugo replied. "It wasn't a fair game. I'll challenge you one-on-one anytime."

"Hey!" Connor said. "Lily and I aren't that bad at chess!"

"You're pretty bad," Hugo said. "No offense."

Lily laughed and leaned against the window again. "Are you two going to play chess now?" she asked. "I can go ask Fred to repair the pieces if you want."

"Thanks, Lily," Layla said, handing her the broken pieces. Lily held them in her arms as she walked down the empty corridor of the Hogwarts' Express. She knocked on the compartment containing Fred with her elbow, since her hands were so full.

"Hi, Lily," Oliver said, opening the compartment door. "Do you need some help?"

"Can you just repair them?" Lily asked. "Before I drop them."

"Yeah, no problem," Oliver replied, waving his wand and saying a non-verbal repair charm. The chess pieces reformed themselves quickly.

"Thanks," Lily said.

"No problem," Oliver answered. "You only have six more years until you can do that too."

Lily laughed and returned to her own compartment. It was true; she'd have six more years at Hogwarts. Her eldest brother would be able to do magic in a month or so, and he'd only have one more year at Hogwarts. Lily wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not. But right now, she was glad she had such a long time left to stay at school; going out into the real world looked scary.

* * *

><p>Lucy watched as Louis sighed deeply, rubbing his eyes. "What's the matter?" she asked, though she was pretty sure she knew what the answer was.<p>

"I miss her already," Louis replied, sinking into his seat.

"Francine?"

Louis nodded. Since the Yule Ball, Louis had been spending much of his time with Francine, doing what, Lucy didn't want to know.

"Well, you'll see her next year," Lorcan said.

"What?" Louis sat up. "Really? When?"

"You know, the gathering of animals," Lorcan replied. "It's bound to happen soon. And everyone will be around."

Lucy and Louis avoided looking at each other. Louis just sighed again and closed his eyes.

"It can't be that bad," Lucy said, trying to help her cousin. "I mean, I've had to leave my family or a friend for a while."

"Yeah, but that's different," Louis replied. "You've never been in love before."

Lucy snorted. "In love? I doubt you were _in love_."

"Well, you know what I mean," Louis said. "Wait, you don't. You've never gone out with somebody before."

Lucy shook her head, but didn't say anything. Anyway, Louis didn't seem like he wanted to argue further.

"So…" Lysander said. "Now that you two are done arguing, do you want any food? The Food Trolley's here."

Lucy nodded and took out a few sickles and passed them to the witch in return for a few chocolate frogs and pumpkin pasties, her favorites. She offered one to Louis, but he declined.

"Come on, Louis," Lysander said. "It's summer time! It's not a time to be depressed. There's a bright future ahead! You get to see your family again. Or send letters to your friends. Or just do nothing at all."

"He's right," Lucy told Louis. "Stop moping. I'm not going to feel sorry for you when there's nothing devastating that happened. If it were like your mom died or something like that, then I would understand. But just leaving a friend… really?"

"Yeah," Lysander agreed. "You're my best mate! Cheer up! You've never been so down before."

Louis groaned. "Fine. Lucy, pass me a frog."

Lucy tossed a chocolate frog to Louis and he opened the wrapper. "Helga Hufflepuff," he read as he nibbled on a corner of his frog. " 'One of the co-founders of Hogwarts. Her namesake is given to Hufflepuff House of Hogwarts.' I don't have her card yet; I'll keep it."

"Can I trade?" Lucy asked. "I got Newt Scamander – I already have him, but you don't."

Louis shook his head. "Helga's rarer."

"Fine then," Lucy said, pocketing her card. "I'm the one who has the rest of the Chocolate Frogs, so you don't get any."

"It's so weird having relatives who have their own chocolate frogs," Lysander said. "I wonder what it would be like having a normal life for a change."

"It would be so dull," Louis replied. "No drama or excitement."

"I think I've had enough excitement," Lucy said. "This year was the most dramatic so far. The Triwizard Tournament, that room that we found during the Yule Ball…"

"The what?" Louis asked.

"Never mind," Lysander answered quickly. "But this year was the best. It's the middle of our whole school experience; it definitely was the best."

"Yeah," Lucy agreed. "But you mean the best so far. Next year's going to be even better. We'll be fifth years! We'll get to be prefects!"

"I already know who's going to become a prefect," Louis replied. "You and Lorcan for Gryffindor, definitely. Nobody else would qualify."

"Yeah, definitely not you," Lucy answered. "You've caused too much trouble."

"What, me? No way." Louis put on an innocent look.

Lucy laughed. "Anyway, next year's going to be amazing."

* * *

><p>"Are you okay?" Rose asked. "You seem down."<p>

"No, I'm fine…" Scorpius replied. "I was just thinking."

"Ever since you got back from the Ministry you've been like this," Rose said.

"What really happened?" Albus asked. The three of them and a couple of other Gryffindor third years were sitting together in a compartment, but the other third-years had left to go visit some friends. It was just Albus, Rose, and Scorpius right now.

"Well, apparently Dad didn't have anything to do with the whole kidnapping," Scorpius answered. "But your dad wasn't sure. He said that Dad could have been lying, since he knows Occulmency and all that."

"Hmm," Albus said thoughtfully. "When I get home, I'm going to ask Dad if he can teach me Occulmency. It seems really cool."

Rose snorted. "_You_ learning Occulmency. Do you even know what it is?"

"It's like mind-reading, isn't it?" Albus asked, defensive.

"No, it's different. And it takes a lot of effort and training to learn. Uncle Harry couldn't even learn it until he was out of school."

"Well, then I'll make him teach me something else," Albus said. "You know what? We should start learning more magic on our own next year. It would be fun."

Rose grinned. "Yeah. Sort of like what Dad and Uncle Harry did when they were little. The only problem is that we don't know many spells."

"That's why we learn!" Albus said. "You know, use a book or something like that to learn."

"I think I'll just go home and read up on spells," Rose replied. She turned to Scorpius, who was staring at the window in silence. "What's wrong? You're zoning out again."

"Sorry," Scorpius said.

"You know, you can tell us," Rose said. "We're your friends. What's bothering you?"

Scorpius sighed. "This whole summer." He paused, and stared out the window. "Okay. I lied to you two. About sending a letter to my Dad."

"You what?" Rose asked in shock.

Scorpius told them about that and talking to his father at the Ministry. When he was done, Rose was shocked.

"Well, why don't you stay with me or Albus over the summer instead?" Rose asked. "Your dad can't treat you like that. Did you tell Harry?"

Scorpius shook his head. "Look, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but it's fine. I realized the only way I'll be able to solve all this is if I actually stand up to my dad. So I'm going to spend the summer at home. I don't care what he says. I'll still manage to send letters to you two even if my dad says no. I just hope he doesn't lock up my owl or… or kill him or something like that."

"He wouldn't kill an owl!" Rose said in horror, but Albus and Scorpius started laughing. "How is that funny?" Rose asked.

"Just forget it," Albus said, still laughing. Rose rolled her eyes, but couldn't help smiling. The two of them were such boys.

* * *

><p>The Hogwarts Express rolled into Kings Cross, and, with a short <em>hiss<em>, came to a stop. The crowd of students piled off of the train and ran towards their waiting parents.

James, Fred, and Oliver were one of the last few off the train. James had just seen his whole family last night—all the adults had apparated back home after the Goodbye Feast—so he wasn't as excited as the other students. Still, he was glad to be back home. The year had been a busy one.

"Hey, James!" shouted a voice from down in Kings Cross. James looked and saw Joseph Adams, a fellow sixth year—well, they were really seventh years now—holding something up at him.

James made his way through the crowd. "Hi Joseph," he said. "What's that?"

"They wrote an article in the Daily Prophet about you," he responded. "You can have it if you want."

"Thanks," James said, looking down at the newspaper as he walked over to his friends. "Fred! Oliver! Look at this!"

The two of them came through the crowd. "What?" Oliver asked, but James gave him the newspaper in response.

_"__**Triwizard Tournament comes to a tie again**_**," **Oliver read out loud.

_"Two days ago, the Triwizard Tournament came out to a tie between Anton Rosencrantz of Durmstrang Academy and James Potter of Hogwarts School. According to Rosencrantz, he was right next to the Triwizard Cup when Potter ran out and jinxed him. Then they dueled for a while until both of them were out of breath, and decided to take the Cup for a tie. Apparently Potter agreed to give Rosencrantz 90% of the winnings, while he only took 100 galleons of the 1000 galleon prize, to give to research at St. Mungo's. _

_ " 'That was a really brave move,' said a source who wishes to remain anonymous, of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. '1000 galleons is a large prize, and to give it all up is hard.'_

_ "1000 galleons is a lot. Potter was chivalrous to give it up to Rosencrantz, who, unlike him, was not famous and rich. Aimee Caron, the third champion, came in last, and did not win anything, but was honored."_

Oliver stopped reading and looked up. "Wow, they're biased."

James nodded. "They didn't mention anything about Guillory or the kidnapping."

"Or you using Fiendyfire," Fred added.

"I don't think Rosencrantz told them," James replied. "I have to thank him for that. Fiendyfire's dark magic; I'd be in trouble."

"Well, this magazine definitely portrays you as the hero," Fred said. "Did you see this quote? 'That was a really brave move.' Sure, giving up 900 galleons when you have 10 times that amount at home is a brave move."

"Shut it, Fred," James said, but he was laughing. "Oh well. This article just made my day."

"Well, now you'll be remembered for something other than being the son of Harry Potter," Oliver said. "Now, you and Rosencrantz both will have eternal glory for winning the Tournament, but you'll have more since you _bravely _gave up 900 galleons."

The three of them walked through the crowd toward their parents, talking about summer and their plans. "Hey, Dad," James said, seeing his father, already with Lily and Albus.

Harry smiled at his eldest son. "Congratulations again. Did you see the article in _The Daily Prophet_?"

James nodded. "Yeah. But they left out a lot of details."

"They've always been biased, even at the last Triwizard Tournament." As his father said that, a shadow of memory crossed across his face, and he seemed glum for a minute. But then it disappeared. "Well, they got one thing right," he continued. "You'll definitely get eternal glory for the rest of your life."

"Thanks dad," James replied. "So are we leaving?"

Harry nodded. "Yep. We're going home."

And the family went through the wall and back to Kings' Cross, and began walking toward home.

THE END

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><p><strong>I hoped you like this whole story and this chapter too! <strong>

**So the sequel's going to be up soon. I'll put a link in this story so you can all find it easily. It's going to be about this generation's next year - James's seventh year, Rose's fourth, etc. There's still going to be adventure (they'll probably investigate about the whole Guillory kidnapping thing), and there might be a little romance too (just a little! I'm not too good at writing it). James IS in his seventh year, after all. And there'll be action. This chapter has some clues as to what the next year will be like.**

**So thank you all one last time. A story isn't a story unless people read it.  
>THE END!<strong>


	36. Sequel Up!

**A/N: This isn't another chapter... it's just informing you all that the sequel is now up! It's called Finding The Answer, because the characters are going to find the answers to all of their questions. You can find it if you go through my profile and click on the top story.  
><strong>

**Please read and review!**


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